Girls
by Widow of Sirius
Summary: *CHAPTER 10 UP!* Okay summary of the whole story... MWPP, Lily and a new girl are all hanging out, becoming great friends... No, she's not a perfect little girl, she has her faults (WAY too emotional)... *RE-POST OF CHAPTER ONE UP! READ IT NOW!*
1. The New Girl

A/N: I've made some major revisions, so if this is your first time reading this, this is the *drum roll* _New and Improved_ version. Everyone before said I went way to fast, and I agree, so this spans over a few days, and I think it's a little better…. Anyway, this is everyone's favorite, MWP&P with a new girl. Yes, I admit it's a little overdone, and she really is… annoying, but I based her after me, so she has to be like that. Please, R&R! I got my first flame a while ago, and it wasn't fun. L Well, I'm done ranting, so I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all Harry Potter characters. I own only Charlotte and her little…"problem".

__

Girls

****

By Wolf Speaker

Chapter 1: The New Girl

Charlotte Went was sitting in her train compartment, staring out the window, and wishing she were back in America. True, Hogwarts was a much better school than any wizarding school in America, but this was a whole new country, and Charlotte had heard that these British snobs hated foreigners. She hoped she would fit in better here, as nobody really wanted to be her friend. It wasn't her fault, it just sort of happened.

Charlotte was an average looking girl, with long, wavy brown hair and glittering brown eyes. Her tan skin was the proof of her "heritage" in Florida, where her school was, as was her American accent. She was relatively tall, at 5'7" she was still growing steadily. She really hoped she could at least find some friends here, as she didn't have very many. Little did she know, her future friends were coming straight for her compartment…

****

*

Lily Evans was walking down the Hogwarts Express when she saw a girl she didn't recognize; though she surely wasn't a first year. Being the outgoing girl she was, she entered the compartment.

"Hi! I'm Lily, who are you?"

"Um…Hi. I'm Charlotte Went."

"Oh, American, huh? Well, you'll feel right at home here at-"

At that moment, a tall, lanky, blond boy with an ugly sneer on his face walked into their compartment. Charlotte thought he resembled a very ugly ferret.

"So, the new git from America has already started out with the wrong crowd. Hope you keep your wits about you when you meet her lover-boy and his friends. They're real beasts."

"Leave us alone, Lucius. Nobody takes the advice of Malfoys anymore," sneered Lily, but you could see in her eyes that Lucius had hit a nerve.

Although she hardly knew her, Charlotte had to defend Lily and her friends. She did something she knew she'd regret.

Concentrating hard, Charlotte glared at Lucius Malfoy. As she glared, Lucius started to go high up in the air. Then, with a burst of speed, he slammed his head on the ceiling, and fell to the ground, knocked out. Concentrating again, Charlotte made his limp body float out of the compartment.

Lily got over her shock quickly, and asked, "How did you learn to do that?"

"It's a genetic thing," Charlotte answered. "Could you not mention it to anyone? It's why I left America. Nobody would talk to me, because I could do it, and they all became scared of me. It's never been _that_ out of control, though."

"Hey, don't worry," replied Lily "I keep so many secrets for people, you'd think it's what I'm made of!"

Again, their compartment door slid open, but judging by the way Lilly's face lit up, these people were friends. A boy with untidy black hair and glasses came in first, looking confused. After him came a boy that was short, blonde, and rather chubby. Two more boys were talking as they walked in, but Charlotte didn't take much notice of one. The boy that caught her attention was tall with black hair and glittering blue eyes. She couldn't believe she was already getting a crush on someone. She knew there was no chance; nobody wanted to be with someone like her.

"Lily, why is Lucius Malfoy laying unconscious outside your compartment?" the boy with the glasses asked.

"Charlotte here…Stunned him," Lily said quickly. "Everyone, this is Charlotte Went. She just transferred here from America."

"James Potter, nice to meet you." Said the boy with the untidy hair.

"Hi. I'm Peter Petigrew," came from the short blonde.

"'Lo. I'm Remus Lupin. And this is-"

"Sirius Black, at your service m'lady!" he said as he took her hand. "Such a fine damsel, thou shalt not leaveth my side, for I shall protect you against evil scum like Lucius Malfoy, and his scurvy crew. Oh, sorry, you can do that for yourself, can't you?"

James, Remus, Lily and Peter burst out laughing as Charlotte answered "Are you sure I don't need to be protected from you, good sir knight? After all, you are causing me a great pain, as you're standing on my foot."

Sirius, finally beaten at his own game, got off her foot, grinning, as everyone laughed again. Charlotte was very proud of the fact she could make people laugh a lot, no matter how embarrassed she was, or how fast her heart was beating.

"You better watch yourself, Sirius! This girl's better than you are!" laughed James.

"Well, at least I'm going to have someone to talk to now, besides you knaves."

James rolled his eyes, and started to talk to Lily, and Remus, Peter, and Sirius became interested in the new girl. They talked the whole way to Hogwarts, stopping only to buy food.

****

*

Once at Hogwarts, Sirius finally laid off the "Good Sir Knight" crap, but he and Charlotte were still flirting, and it was evident to everyone. Lily could tell Charlotte liked him, and as she was waiting for the sorting (Charlotte would be included), she was hatching a diabolical plan.

"Went, Charlotte!" yelled Professor McGonagall.

After only a short moment, the Sorting Hat yelled "GRIFFINDOR!"

Lily clapped with the rest, as Charlotte came and sat by her. James being the most diabolical person she knew, Lily decided to talk to him about her idea. Of course, she trusted he wouldn't tell Sirius.

****

*

"James, what do I do?" said Sirius helplessly. It was a couple after school had started, and James and Sirius were sitting in the common room.

"I don't know what to tell you mate," said James. "You seem to really like her, but _I _can't do anything about it."

"I _do_ really like her!" said Sirius. He sighed. "I just… don't know what to do about it. I mean, if she doesn't like me, and I ask her out, it would completely ruin our friendship!"

"That's exactly what I thought about Lily," said James. "You just have to try, and hope things turn out for the best."

Sirius groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Some help you are," he muttered.

****

*

As they were in the common room the next night, Lily asked James to come up with something to get Sirius and Charlotte together. James, for once, didn't know what to do.

"Well, we could always lock them in the Shrieking Shack," James teased.

"Ha, ha. I'm serious! What do we do?" Lily asked.

"Sirius should just get over himself and ask her out, I already _had _this conversation with him… Wait! I've got an idea!" said James, eyes glittering.

"What?" said Lily excitedly.

For another half-hour or so, Lily and James could be seen with their heads bent together, talking in very low, but excited, voices.

*

"So, where are we going?" asked Charlotte a few days later. The group was walking around the grounds, heading in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

"The forest," said James with a mischievous grin, and a wink at Lily.

"Um… isn't that forbidden?" asked Charlotte uncertainly.

"Hence the name. Let's go! What are you dolts waiting for?" exclaimed Sirius. He went running towards the forest, dragging a rather frightened-looking Charlotte with him.

"James, should we really do this to her?" wondered Lily.

"Of course! You know Sirius, he'll be the dashing knight in shining armor, and Charlotte will fall into his arms, and they'll snog and everything. There's no chance Sirius would pass this up," explained James, a very certain air around him.

*

It took Charlotte and Sirius quite a long time to realize the others weren't right behind them.

"Um… Charlotte? Where are the others?"

"I'm not really sure. I don't think they even came into the forest. Exactly where are we anyway?" said Charlotte, getting even more nervous and clinging onto Sirius's arm. They had become very close over the past few weeks, and Charlotte trusted he would get them out safely.

"DID YOU GET US LOST?" she whispered urgently.

"Oy! Breathe, breathe, I know everything in this forest, don't worry. Just follow me," said Sirius.

"Yeah 'follow me'," muttered Charlotte. "Last time I did that, we ended up in the damned forest, lost."

Sirius grinned at her and took her hand.

"There, feel better?" he asked, still grinning.

"Ye- no," said Charlotte, turning extremely red.

"Come on," said Sirius, giving her hand a squeeze. "There are a lot of things in this forest you don't wanna run into. By the way, do you like spiders?"

"Oh, I love them, I've got some as pets at home," said Charlotte sarcastically. "Why?"

"Well, there's a huge pack of giant ones here," said Sirius casually. Suddenly, on of the spiders emerged from a patch of trees into their clearing. It glanced at them, and turned around, walking back the way it came. Charlotte was clutching Sirius's hand tightly, and staying very still close to him.

"Come on," said Sirius urgently. "If that thing goes back to camp, it'll tell the others we're here, and I don't think they'll wanna have a little party. We've got to go."

Charlotte had never known Sirius to be so… well, _serious_. It was sweet, in an oh-my-god-I'm-gonna-die way.

Sirius grabbed Charlotte's hand and pulled her the way they had been going. They were running incredibly quickly, yet quietly. After a minuet or two, the trees thinned and Charlotte could see the Whomping Willow. Sirius had let go of her hand, and grabbed a stick off of the ground, prodding a knot on the tree with it. Suddenly, the branches that had unsuccessfully been trying to hit Sirius and Charlotte stopped. Sirius dragged Charlotte into a gap in the roots, taking her down a long tunnel. They emerged in a room with broken furniture, ripped curtains, and boarded windows.

"Thanks," said Charlotte, hugging Sirius for a moment before realizing what she was doing. She backed away slowly, blushing.

"Really, I have something I want to tell you," said Sirius, also turning red, but keeping eye contact and coming closer.

"What?" asked Charlotte. Her heart started to pound hard, and she became nervous. What did he want? Did he feel the same as she did? But that was impossible! Nobody could like a (Charlotte gulped) telekinetic person. She took a deep breath and waited for his answer. No need to jump to conclusions…

"Ireallylikeyoudoyouwannagototheballwithme?" said Sirius quickly, blushing as red as Lily's hair, but not looking away.

"S-sorry?" said Charlotte. She could've sworn he said- but, no, he couldn't have…

"I- I really like you. A lot. D-do you wanna go to the ball with me?" said Sirius slowly.

Charlotte looked into those glowing eyes, and grinned. Sirius was asking her to the Yule Ball! She could sing!

"Of course!" she exclaimed, hugging him. Sirius looked like he was expecting her to decline. "What took you so long?"

"Hey, if I'd known you liked me, I would've asked you right after I found out you stunned Malfoy!" said Sirius happily. He came over and kissed her. Charlotte hoped it would never end, but before she had stopped enjoying herself, she heard loud laughter.

"You dolts!" exclaimed Sirius, but he grinned all the same.

James, Remus, Lily, and Peter appeared out of nowhere, laughing hard.

"I can't believe you did that!" smiled Charlotte. "You guys are so insensitive."

"Yeah, like you expect _them_ to be sensitive," said Lily, jerking her thumb behind her at James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus. Charlotte smiled contently as Sirius put his arm around her. Lily went over to James and gave him a kiss on the cheek, while he wrapped his arms around her. Charlotte saw what would a beautiful friendship, and hoped it would never end.

A/N: Don't worry, Remus won't be left out in the cold! His one and only comes up in the next chapter, and I'm even considering giving Peter someone (although, she's going to dump him and cause him the great heartache he deserves, that scum). Any ideas or suggestions should be suggested in your review. And while we're on the topic, R/R please! Gracias! (I know that there should be an upside-down exclamation point before "Gracias", but then my program says I spelled it wrong)


	2. Eavesdropping

A/N: I accidentally deleted my first chapter, and since it's been so long, I'm not sure I remember everything. Just bear with me, alright? Anyway, Remus' girl comes in this chapter. But I'm not sure whether they'll stay together for long or not. I guess you'll just have to read and find out! Oh, we're doing children's books in Language, and we handed them in the day before break started, so I can't tell you if my storytelling has improved any. But, hey! At least if I get a good grade on this, I could have a B in class! Yay! Be happy for me (or I'll stop writing)!

Girls

****

By Wolf Speaker

Chapter 2:  
Eavesdropping 

Sirius couldn't believe it. His dreams were all coming true, except for the fact that all of his friends (except for James) were making fun of him. So what if he liked a girl? At least he wasn't gay (A/N: No offence to anybody that is, I have a lot of friends who are). _Besides, they should be happy for me_, Sirius thought. _After all, I've always hated the girls I've dated in the past_. Well, at least Charlotte wasn't getting crap…

****

*

"LILLY!" Charlotte yelled, blushing. "How can you say that? You have _James_!" Charlotte put a mocking tone into James' name.

"So?" Lilly asked. "You and Sirius waited about a day. Me and James were friends for over a year before we started dating."

"Yeah, well you're way too stiff," Charlotte retorted.

"Oh really?" asked Lilly, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

****

*

"You guys want to go to the Forest tonight?" asked James.

"Sure," said Sirius.

"If you want to," replied Remus.

"I- I g-g-guess so," stuttered Peter.

"You know, Peter, you don't have to come if you don't want to," said James, in a surprisingly sympathetic tone (A/N: I know, Peter doesn't deserve it, but James doesn't agree with me. He says he doesn't know that he'll be betrayed yet, so it shouldn't be obvious. I hate it when he's right).

"Okay!" Peter said, seeming very relieved.

"Okay. I'll get the cloak in a little while, then we can go," said James, keeping his voice low.

Little did they know their plans were to be spoiled by the two "innocent" little girls across the room, unobserved in the shadows.

****

*

"Accio Invisibility Cloak!" whispered Lilly.

Charlotte saw a silvery cloak coming towards them in the shadows. After realizing what Lilly had said, she assumed it was an invisibility cloak. She had only heard of them, and read about them, though she had never seen one. She supposed that it was Lilly's but she must have been mistaken.

"Lilly, how did you afford that?" whispered Charlotte, observing Lilly putting her finger to her lips. "Those are supposed to be really expensive!"

"It belongs to James. We're going to listen in on the boys," said Lilly with that mischievous twinkle again.

"Okay. Will that cover both of us?" asked Charlotte.

"Of course! It covers James, Sirius and Peter when they- never mind," she said quickly.

"Let's go," said Charlotte, realizing Lilly didn't want to talk about it.

****

*

"We can go now," said James. "I'll go get the cloak."

As they were waiting, Remus and Sirius talked about the Hogsmade trip that weekend. Sirius mainly joked at Remus for having a crush on Molly Walters (A/N: This is future Molly Weasley, in case you can't tell).

"So what if I do?" defended Remus. "Just because I like someone doesn't give you the right to make fun of me!"

"But Remus," said Sirius. "It's just so easy! You always defend your ways like this, and I find it rather amusing!"

James came back at that moment, looking rather upset.

"You guys, the cloak is gone," he said quickly.

Sirius appeared worried, but Remus got suspicious.

"Where did you have it last?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Lilly and I went on a walk around the grounds the other night, why?" James said.

"Did you show Lilly where you keep it?" Remus asked.

"NO! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE HER!" yelled James. "It's not like she's like that Arthur Weasley."

"I'm just saying, you know Lilly. She'll do anything for a little fun. She probably has Charlotte with her," concluded Remus

"HEY!" Sirius and James yelled at the same time.

"Will you guys chill? It's not like they're out stealing! Or sneaking into Honeydukes or something!" Remus said quickly.

The guys didn't seem to notice they were being listened to.

****

*

"Lilly! Why are we listening to them again?" whispered Charlotte.

"Because the boys always do it to us. The only place we're safe is our dormitory. So I just thought we'd pay them back," said Lilly in a barely audible voice. 

"Seriously? Aw, dude!" said Charlotte, never being more obvious that she was American.

"Shh! They're talking about something else now!" hissed Lilly.

"Okay, lets just get off that subject so James can cool down. Anyway-" but he was cut off by Severus Snape coming over.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? I hope you guys aren't thinking about going into the Forest again. We can easily tell Professor Dumbledor that his little beast isn't following his orders," he grinned.

"And then you'd be in trouble for knowing. Why are you in here, anyway?" asked James, realizing they were in the Griffindor common room.

"Yeah, you slimy git. You aren't allowed in here. Go back to Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle," said Sirius with a very evil glare.

"I'm here to get Charlotte Went. Dumbledor wants to see her," he sneered. "He said it was very important, and he gave me the password. He's having it changed tomorrow."

"Well we don't know where she is. Her and Lilly disappeared a while ago," growled Sirius.

"Charlotte, we have to go back to our dormitories, then come back after we put the cloak back," Lilly whispered.

"Okay," she whispered back.

****

*

"I wonder what Dumbledor wants to see you for?" queried Lilly.

"It's probably about my telekinesis. Like what I did to Lucius?" she added, seeing Lilly's confused expression.

"Oh yeah. I wonder if he's angry about that?" Lilly answered.

"I doubt Lucius even remembered what happened. What I did was really complex, and I'm surprised I didn't faint. When I do something that hard, like with a person, it usually ends up with a concussion for both of us," explained Charlotte. "He would have forgotten why he was even there."

"Well, we should go downstairs. I'll say I found the cloak at the bottom of the stairs," said Lilly.

****

*

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" asked Charlotte after the very long walk with Snape, who was being his usual slimy self.

"Explain to me how you became telekinetic," said Professor Dumbledor calmly. It made Charlotte feel a lot better that he was so calm about it.

"Um… well, my dad was- is telekinetic, and it just sort of got passed down to me," she explained. "He was called 'Trash' in school for it, and that's still what all of his friends call him."

"Is that so?" asked Dumbledor. "What school did he go to?"

"Well, he was expelled from a lot of schools because of it since he didn't know he had it, but he went to Edgeview Alternative School when he found out," said Charlotte.

"Well, I just want to say, try and keep it under control. I'll understand if little things happen, but nothing big. You may go," said Dumbledor.

"Thank you," said Charlotte rather bewildered.

****

*

"What'd he want?" asked Lilly the moment Charlotte came in through the portrait hole. Sirius came over looking worried.

"He wanted to know how something happened, and my family history," said Charlotte calmly. She didn't want to tell Sirius about her telekinesis. She would absolutely hate it if he didn't want to be near her anymore.

"What happened?" asked Sirius, still looking worried.

"You know, when she stunned Lucius," said Lilly. Charlotte gave her a thankful smile.

"Oh yeah," said Sirius, grinning. "Well, at least you're not in trouble."

"Yeah, but now Narcissa glares at me every time she sees me. It's like they're married or something," she answered, with a sly smile.

"Yeah, well if they get married, they'll have one bastard of a kid," said James. "I hope my kids won't have to know that piece of shit."

A/N: Okay, the whole Charlotte's dad thing was from a book I read called _Hidden Talents_ by someone I don't remember. I highly recommend it. Anyway, I just want to say that this was finished a while ago, but I didn't really have a chance to upload it right away. I would also like to thank my friends from Kennedy Middle School for helping me find my inner writer (who happens to be very small and extremely hard to find). Finally, reviews are always welcome, and I am in desperate need of them, as I already have terrible self-esteem (ask anybody who knows me). Thank you, and R/R!


	3. Remus' Girl

A/N: I had to put that thing about the Malfoys last chapter. Anyway, this chapter's okay, and a lot more happens with Remus' crush on Molly Walters. Yes, I did imply that Arthur Weasley was a prankster when he was in school. Where do _you_ think Fred and George get it from? Anyway, I know that Arthur and Molly are probably older than MWP&P, but I'm just going to put them in the same year, so that my story works out the way I want it to. Also, this chapter might be depressing, because I'm reading _A Series of Unfortunate Events_ by Lemony Snicket, and that is a very depressing book, as you can tell from the title.

Girls

****

By Wolf Speaker

Chapter 3:  
Remus' Girl

It had been two months since that night, and Sirius was getting impatient. Remus was Sirius's complete opposite, and Sirius just couldn't take it anymore. 

"Sirius, I don't think-"

"You're right, you don't think, but we're going to try to get you as close as possible. There's Molly, right over there. Just go over there and ask her to the Yule Ball," said Sirius.

"If I remember correctly, you didn't have that easy of a time when you asked out Yvonne Chang?" teased Remus.

"Hey! At least I did it. Sure, she was a bitch once I got to know her, but at least I had the chance," said Sirius. "If you don't act soon, I've been hearing that Arthur Weasley wants to ask her out, and he just might beat you to her!"

"Wouldn't that sound dumb if they got married?" said Remus. "Molly Weasley. Come on."

"Yeah, well you could always make it sound worse and make her 'Molly Lupin'. GO ON!" said Sirius, and he pushed Remus to Molly.

"Um…Hi. I'm Remus Lupin. DoyouwannagototheYuleBallwithme?" In case you couldn't tell, Remus was slightly nervous.

"What?" asked Molly, smiling slightly.

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" asked Remus more slowly and calmly.

"Sure," said Molly, grinning. "I'll see you in Transfiguration this afternoon."

Once Molly had walked away, Sirius came out from behind a suit of armor, with a very serious face.

"Now, Remus, do I have to give you the sex talk?" he asked with a straight face.

  
"Ha ha. I reckon the whole school will know by tomorrow?" asked Remus.

"I reckon so," Sirius replied with a still straight face.

****

*

"Lilly, you're just plain evil. Are you with the Dark Side and just not telling me?" said Charlotte, seeming rather disgruntled. Aw, hell, she was totally pissed off.

"Well, it's not like I knew he was right behind us," whispered Lilly, who was feeling terrible as it was.

"I'm sorry, but if he tells Sirius about my telekinesis, I'm going to kill him," said Charlotte.

"Well, I know James, and he'll probably ask us if he can tell Sirius," said Lilly. "But then again, he tells Sirius everything. I don't know if he'll keep this from him, even if we tell him to."

"Fine. I have no choice," said Charlotte, "I'm going to have to tell him myself."

"You know, he would've found out sooner or later. Don't forget, they have the invisibility cloak," said Lilly.

"Yeah, and like you said, they eavesdrop on us all the time," said Charlotte. "I guess I'll tell him after dinner tonight."

****

*

"Char! Charlotte, I need to tell you something!" Sirius came running into the common room right before dinner

"I have to tell you something, too," said Charlotte slowly, as if dreading this moment (which, I now remember, she was).

"Let me go first," Sirius hurried. "Remus finally asked out Molly Walters. You know, that girl," said Sirius, pointing to a girl in their year across the common room.

"That's great!" exclaimed, relieved she didn't have to tell Sirius just yet.

"Yeah, but I think Arthur Weasley is out for revenge," laughed Sirius. He pointed over by Arthur, and sure enough, he was glaring at Remus.

"Don't you think we should do something?" asked Charlotte, remembering Arthur's "practical jokes" that he played on half of the house, who had all turned into frogs for about a quarter hour.

"Nah. Remus could beat this guy up in a minuet. Especially on a full moon," he muttered.

Charlotte was beginning to think her friends were keeping something from her. She'd heard them mention things about the full moon, Remus, and some people named Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Even Lilly seemed to know, and Charlotte was getting curious.

"What?" she asked, hoping he would just let it slip.

"I didn't say anything," Sirius said casually. "C'mon, it's almost time for dinner."

****

*

At dinner that night, Lilly and Charlotte were having an interesting conversation, in hushed voices, while the guys were negotiating their adventure for tomorrow night.

"Lilly, I just couldn't tell him," whispered Charlotte. "It's not that easy, you know. Have you ever had to tell James something you didn't want to?"

"Well… no. But hey," said Lilly. "At least James promised he wouldn't tell."

"Yeah, but you said yourself that he might not keep that promise," Charlotte replied.

"Look, you're going to have to tell him before tomorrow night, because they kind of have something planned, and I'll bet any money that if Sirius doesn't already know, James _will_ tell him," urged Lilly.

"Okay, but I really don't like this," mumbled Charlotte.

"I don't think you're supposed to like it. Of course, Sirius will probably let you help him torture Snape!" smiled Lilly.

"Oh, goodie! My life long dream has been to torture Snape!" laughed Charlotte.

"That's my girl," said Sirius, then he put his arm around Charlotte's shoulders.

*

"Um, Sirius?" asked Charlotte. The time had come, and she wasn't looking forward to it. "Can I talk to you?

"Sure. What's wrong?" he asked, looking into her face. He looked honestly worried, and Charlotte hated doing that to him.

"There's something about me I think you should know," she said slowly.

"I have to tell you something, too," said Sirius, just as cautiously.

"Okay, um… do you want to go first?" Charlotte asked, trying to buy her time to come up with something to say.

"Okay. I'm an unregistered Animagus. I turn into a giant black dog, and I sneak out of the castle every full moon. James and Peter are Animagi also. James turns into a stag, and Peter turns into a rat (A/N: Which is perfectly fitting for the piece of scum)," said Sirius rather quickly.

"Wow," Charlotte said, and that was all she could think of. "Who is Moony then? I can guess Wormtail, Prongs, and Padfoot, but that's only 3 of the 4."

"Well… I have to make sure the guys think you can know about that one, okay?" said Sirius.

Lucky for Charlotte, it was obvious Sirius really wanted to tell her. 

"Sure," she said. "I guess it's my turn now. I'm… Well, there's no easy way of putting it. I'm… telekinetic. I can sort of move things with my mind," Charlotte explained, unable to look at Sirius. "That's what happened to Lucius on the train. I didn't stun him. I kind of… made him hit his head on the ceiling, and he got knocked out."

It was silent for a while, and Charlotte was still looking at the floor. When she looked up, Sirius was grinning like she had told him he had won 10,000 Galleons.

"What?" asked Charlotte timidly. "Are you mad at me?"

"You knocked out Lucius Malfoy, and you think I'm _mad_ at you?" Sirius said, still grinning. "Believe me, I couldn't be happier!"

He came over and gave Charlotte a huge hug, nearly suffocating her. When they separated, Charlotte was grinning, too.

"If I knew it'd make you that happy, I'd have told you a long time ago!" joked Charlotte.

Sirius smiled at her, then leaned over and kissed her.

*

"You guys…" said Sirius later that night, just before they left under the cloak, "I was wondering if I could tell Charlotte about Remus."

"What?" Peter and James said at the same time.

"How do you know we can trust her?" whispered James.

"Yeah, I mean, we barely know her!" said Peter.

"But Lilly knows! It's been almost two months since we met Charlotte, and none of us have ever had a fight with her!" said Sirius urgently.

"Yeah, but how do you know she won't go and tell Snape or something?" pointed out James.

"Do you honestly think she'd do that?" asked Sirius.

"No, but I don't think we should tell her yet," James said finally.

There was no arguing with James when he made up his mind. Sirius just had to wait for James to realize what a sweet person Charlotte really was.

A/N: Okay, so this isn't as depressing as I was expecting, but that's just because I just flow with these things (maybe that's why I've got a C- in Language Arts). But I did have an idea, but I'm just going to use it in another chapter. It would've been too soon in the story to use it anyway. Any ideas, suggestions, or even hellos can be either said in your reviews or e-mailed to me. Really. I wouldn't mind it. Nope, not one bit. Anyway, I hope to see your reviews soon (seeing as I've been very depressed lately), and I hope you people e-mail me.

Sincerely yours,  
Wolf Speaker


	4. Tears Under the Full Moon

A/N: Okay, I took way too long with those last two chapters (and they weren't even that long!), so I wrote this just after I uploaded those. I'm putting At Last on hold until this story catches up (Honestly, Sirius has been hounding me, saying that these are "historical documents", so they're more important). If you think I should just do both at once (which really won't be too hard) just e-mail me. Or if you actually know me (as in you've seen me before, you're my friend, stuff like that) you can always call me. I'm sorry, but I've been in a bad mood the past couple of days (it's that time of the month), so this might still take a while.

****

Girls

By Wolf Speaker

Chapter 4:  
Tears Under the Full Moon

"Sirius?"

Charlotte came running up to Sirius, and they headed off to the common room together.

"Are you alright? You seem kind of quiet," said Charlotte, seeming concerned.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I've just been thinking," Sirius lied. He was really preoccupied with how he was going to get the guys to let him tell Charlotte about Remus. Everybody knew she wouldn't go running off and tell the whole school, but they also didn't know her very well.

"Are you sure?" she urged. She really looked upset, and that just made Sirius feel worse.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about how Lilly and James have been doing," he said. At least that wasn't a lie. Lilly and James had been somewhat distant from each other for a while, and Sirius didn't know what to make of it.

"I know. Even when I got here, they were a lot closer," Charlotte said.

"And they were a lot closer before you were even here. Man, did that annoy me, Remus, and Peter," Sirius smiled a bit at the memory. "Once we saw them walking outside at night, so we threw a dungball at them."

"Wow, you guys were evil!" laughed Charlotte.

"Were? How do you know we're not still evil?" said Sirius with a sly smile.

"Because I'd notice if you threw a dungball at me," joked Charlotte.

  
*****

"So what do you guys think about Sirius?" said Remus to James and Peter.

"I don't know if it's such a good idea," muttered Peter.

"I agree. I mean, we barely know Charlotte," said James. "I mean, we don't even know if she and Sirius will say together. People that get together that fast usually don't."

"Exactly what I was thinking," said Peter.

"Me too. The problem is, Sirius is completely obsessed with her-"

"You mean like you are with Molly?" joked Peter.

"-And we can't get him to change his mind," continued Remus, pretending he didn't hear.

"So what are we supposed to do?" said James.

"Well, we could always just try and see if we can trust her. You know, make something up and see if she can keep a secret," said Remus.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, you're actually having _good_ ideas today!" laughed James.

****

*

Charlotte was walking back to the common room after Potions, when she heard someone call her name. Thinking it was Sirius or Lily, she turned around. It sure wasn't one of her friends.

"Charlotte, can I speak with you?" said Severus Snape.

"What do you want?" growled Charlotte. She had never really liked Snape, and she didn't think she was ever going to change her mind.

"Look, I just want you to know, if you ever need help in Potions, I can help, alright?" he said rather quickly.

"That's alright. I'll be fine without your help," Charlotte said coldly. She wasn't in the mood to put up with Snape right now.

  
"I just wanted you to know that," Snape repeated, his pale face going pink, and he ran back to the dungeons.

****

*

"Lily, can I talk to you?" asked Charlotte.

"Sure!" said Lily in her normally perky voice, but her face was showing something rather close to sadness.

"Are you alright? You seem really tense," said Charlotte.

"Yeah, of course, I'm fine," she answered too quickly.

"Really? Because I'm getting the impression you and James aren't getting along all that well," said Charlotte cautiously, as if Lily would run away if she said it too quickly.

"What makes you think that?" squeaked Lily.

"For one, the way you said that. Also, you two just seem distant recently. What's wrong? C'mon, I'm your friend, you can tell me," said Charlotte soothingly.

"Well…" started Lily, her voice shaking, "I'm just hanging out with you more, because I never really had friends other than the guys, and James doesn't really like it."

Lily started to cry, and hard. They were lucky they were in their dormitory, because it was pretty loud, and would attract stares in the common room.

"Lily, you can hang out with him more if you want. I have Sirius, and the other guys. You know I can do fine on my own," smiled Charlotte.

Lily laughed, wetly.

"There, do you feel better?" smiled Charlotte, "I mean, I let you make fun of my abnormality, and if you don't feel better, you'll feel worse when I get through with you."

Lily laughed again, and said, "Yeah, I feel better. So, how are you and Sirius doing, anyway?"

"Fine. Let's get off that subject so you don't start crying all over my robes again," smiled Charlotte. It was true. The entire shoulder of her robes was soaked.

"Let's go down to the common room and play chess," said Charlotte.

"Fine, but prepare to lose," smiled Lily.

*

"Are you guys ready?" said James. Remus had already left (it was the full moon, he had to leave hours ago), and the guys were about to leave.

"I guess," muttered Peter (he never really liked to do this because the guys tended to lose him a lot).

"I've never been more ready," said Sirius excitedly.

"Then let's go," said James, and he pulled the cloak over the three of them, and they disappeared from sight.

She watched them leave from the shadows, with her heart sinking. She had asked him not to go this time, but he didn't listen. Honestly, Remus was more important to him than she was. She sank down onto a big armchair in front of the red embers and cried quietly.

"I really hoped you wouldn't be down here," said a voice from behind her.

Lily turned around, but didn't see anybody for a moment. Then Charlotte appeared, taking off an Invisibility Cloak.

"Where did you-?" Lily started.

"I got it for my birthday last weekend from my parents. Now, I know you asked James not to go tonight, but he's out having fun, and you should be happy for him," said Charlotte.

"They- they never told you about Moony, did they?" said Lily through her tears.

"No, and I'm a patient person, so I can wait," said Charlotte stiffly.

"Okay, but I'd just like to tell you, they're not exactly having 'fun' out there. What they're doing is really dangerous," whispered Lily, as if someone was listening to them.

"Well, I'm sure the guys can use common sense and stay out of trouble," said Charlotte. She sounded confident, but her face gave away that she was worried.

"What do they do?" she asked slowly.

"Well, I can't tell you everything, but they go into the forest," she whispered to Charlotte. For a moment, Charlotte thought _Why is she whispering? Nobody else is in here at 2 in the morning, are they? _but then realized what Lily had said.

"Are you joking? Why would they do that? When Sirius and I were in there, it was terrifying, and it was in broad daylight! I can't imagine what it's like at night!" said Charlotte urgently.

"Don't worry, they've done it every full moon since last year. I'm sure they'll manage." It sounded like Lily was forcing herself to say these things, like she didn't really believe it. Charlotte didn't fall for it for a moment. She walked over to the window seat looking out over the forest, and cried tears under the full moon.

A/N: Okay, this was kind of depressing, but it's just that time in the story. Also, I've been crying a lot lately over a guy, and I kind of wanted to make it seem like it's normal for people to do that (I've been crying for a different reason, but it's close enough). Anyway, enough of my depressive-ness. Ignore these Authors Notes, just read the stories. If you people actually do read and enjoy these stories (hell, you don't even have to enjoy them, you can hate them for all I care) then please review. I need a life, and this is the closest I get to getting my mind off of how crappy mine is.


	5. Deely-Boppers

A/N: Alright, I'm not listening to Malfoy, and I'm going to be doing more of this than At Last because I'm really getting into this one. Besides, I'm feeling a lot better now, and I'm not going to be too depressing (it has to be a little depressing since it was just a depressing chapter). Also, I'm going to be skipping a lot of the year in this because I have a great plot for that summer which includes a incredibly cute Quidditch player (who I am imagining looks like Oliver Wood in the movie) and a Lilly and James row. Now, on to the story!

****

Girls

By Wolf Speaker

Chapter 5:  
Deely-Boppers

"Sirius, where exactly do you go every full moon?" said Charlotte abruptly when the gang was in the common room, sitting by the fire.

"What do you mean? I don't go anywhere on-" started Sirius.

"Don't lie to me, I've seen you," said Charlotte, noticing all of her friends (Remus, Peter, James, and Lily) were staring, but she really didn't care.

"Can this wait?" whispered Sirius, glancing around at his friends. They all gave him looks that clearly said that he couldn't give her an answer, even later.

"No, it cannot wait! I'm sick of all of this secrecy, Sirius, and I want to know what's going on," said Charlotte, barely controlling her temper.

Now, Charlotte isn't one to lose her temper. The only time she does is when she's really nervous or worried. Here she was both, and it was obvious to Lily, who was glaring at James, who just so happened not to notice because he was glaring at Sirius, who didn't notice because he was watching Charlotte, who didn't notice because she was looking at Lilly, who didn't notice because… I think you get the picture.

"Charlotte, believe me, I want to tell you, but I can't. Not right now. Please, please say something," added Sirius after a long silence. He was getting really worried now.

"Sirius," Charlotte said finally, "I want to be able to trust you. I can't trust you if you are constantly lying to me."

There was a long silence between the group as everyone stared at Sirius, except for Charlotte, who was on the verge of tears.

"I guess I'll go to my dormitory," Charlotte said quietly, and ran upstairs.

"How can you guys be so mean to her!" Lily shouted once Charlotte was out of earshot. "You told me the day after James asked me out! What's wrong with telling her?"

  
"Lilly, we barely know her," said Remus quietly.

"Yeah!" piped up Peter. "What are we supposed to do? Just go around telling everyone you think is worthy?"

"No, Peter, but she's our _friend_! I don't know how you guys can just sit around and not think of the torture you are putting her through!" yelled Lily. "Do you realize how much she is hurt, and how much it hurts me that I can't tell her? She comes to me, crying because she thinks Sirius doesn't care about her, or that she has no friends because they can't trust her! I can't take it much longer! If you guys don't tell her soon, I will!"

Sirius was staring at Lily, looking like he was trying hard not to cry (strange for a guy, isn't that?), James was glaring at her, Remus was simply looking at her with no emotion showing in his face at all, and Peter was looking terrified.

"Well," said Remus, "Everyone knows that this is really my decision. And as you all know, I don't want my secret out. But Charlotte has been a great friend to me. I wouldn't want to keep this from her for a moment longer."

Sirius looked like he could kiss Remus (which, thankfully, he didn't), while James and Peter looked rather perturbed.

"Are you kidding?" yelled James, but got a look at Lily's face, and fell silent.

"I'm going to go tell her. I'll be right back," said Sirius, with a smile on his face.

****

*

"Char?" said Sirius quietly as he opened the dormitory door. "Are you okay?"

Charlotte quickly straightened herself up after what looked like she had been crying on her bed. Her face was rather blotchy and her eyes were red and puffy.

"Yes, yes I'm fine," she said, quickly drying her eyes. "Do you need something?"

"Well the guys, Lily, and I have been talking. They agreed to let me tell you what's going on," said Sirius slowly.

Charlotte just looked at him expectantly, waiting patiently.

"The truth is… Well, Remus isn't quite… normal. He's… well… He's Moony," Sirius said, struggling to find the right words.

"And that tells me…?" said Charlotte, starting to look angry.

"Okay, there's no easy way of saying this, and you're obviously not going to let me stall," joked Sirius, "So I'm just going to come out and say it. Remus is a werewolf. Peter, James, and I go out there with him every full moon and keep him company."

"Wow… Now I understand why you couldn't tell me," said Charlotte.

"But we've agreed you're trustworthy, and you know now," said Sirius, wiping a tear off of Charlotte's cheek. "I have wanted to tell you for a really long time, but it just doesn't seem to ever work out for me. I always caught the guys at a bad time whenever I asked to tell you. Come on, let's go back downstairs."

****

*

"Lily, can we talk?" said James.

"Sure," she said, not in her usual perky voice. Something was obviously wrong.

"Lily, what's wrong with you lately? I mean, you have been acting strangely. Like standing up for Charlotte, who nobody cares about except you and Sirius, and giving us that whole speech that we really didn't need yesterday," said James.

"Well, I'm sorry Mr. I'm-the-best-Chaser-this-team-has-ever-seen. If I have offended you in some way, please forgive this poor little peasant. Lower-class people shouldn't speak so to macho Quidditch players," said Lily, totally going off the subject, then storming off (did they say macho then? I can't really say).

James just sort of stood there, sorting out what Lily had said. After a few seconds, he had an Andy moment and yelled "Hey!".

****

*

"Can you believe that? He just comes up to me and says that, like I did something wrong!" complained Lily that night in her dormitory.

"Lily, you really have to chill," said Charlotte, never ceasing to act American. "You're totally spazing out. What's your beef?"

"Okay, does that even make sense?" said Lily, coming out of her anger phase.

"In your language, that means that you are making way too big of a deal of this."

"And what's your beef means…?"

"That means what's your problem," said Charlotte, waving that aside. "You have to tell me specifically what James said."

"Well, let me think. He said 'Lily, what's wrong with you lately? I mean, you have been acting strangely. Like-' never mind. You don't want to hear the rest," said Lily.

"No, I want to hear," said Charlotte, sitting up on her bed.

"Well, he said… 'Like standing up for Charlotte, who nobody cares about except you and Sirius, and giving us that whole speech that we really didn't need yesterday'. Charlotte, I'm sorry," said Lily. "I really didn't want to tell you that. And I know Remus and Peter care about you. I just think James is having a male P.M.S."

Charlotte was silent for a moment. She looked like she was going to cry again, but didn't. Charlotte really wasn't one to cry, but she wasn't even hurt this much at her old school. And everyone hated her at her old school…

**FLASHBACK**

__

"Jenna, what's everyone staring at?" said Charlotte.

"Oh, I'm sure they're just… um… looking at my new lip gloss," said Jenna. She looked kind of nervous. __

"Where's my Potions book?" muttered Charlotte, looking through her bag. There was a rip in the bottom.

"There it is," said Jenna, still acting nervous, pointing at the floor by the door.

Charlotte got up to get her book when a boy yelled across the room at her.

"YO, CHARLOTTE! MAYBE YOU SHOULD USE YOUR TELEKINESIS TO GET YOUR BOOK!"

Everyone in the class started laughing. Even Jenna laughed.

"Jenna," whispered Charlotte. "How could you tell?"

"I… well…" said Jenna, cowering by the window, not looking at Charlotte.

"What's wrong with you, anyway Charlotte? Do you just do that teleki-whatzit stuff to keep yourself amused? Or maybe you do it to get a boyfriend?" came a shout from somewhere in the room.

Charlotte couldn't take it anymore. She usually was very calm, but when it came to guys, she wouldn't take any shit. She totally snapped, and when she snaps, you might want to get out of the room.

Things were breaking every where, cauldrons were smashing on the floor, and the people that taunted her got thrown out the window. Books were flying, papers were ripping, and people were screaming. Then Professor Yarnot walked in.

Of course, all of the teachers knew about Charlotte's "abnormality", and Professor Yarnot knew exactly what was going on.

**FLASHFRONT** 

"Charlotte? Char, are you okay?" said Lily.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just… just thinking," said Charlotte dumbly. "Just thinking" is what all people say when they just don't want to talk about it. Lily seemed to know that.

"What's wrong?" she said worriedly.

"Well, it's just… it's just…" said Charlotte, getting close to tears again. "I've never had any real friends. It seems like you're my only friend. But the thing is my 'only friend' at my old school turned out to be… well, a traitor. She told everyone about my problem, and that's why I had to leave."

"Charlotte, I can't believe you could think that! We all care about you, and would never do that to you!" said Lily, coming over to the bed and putting her arm around her shoulders.

"I know that, but I've just been hurt so much, I can't take anymore," said Charlotte, tears streaming down her face.

"You know, James is just a wally. He'll never be as close to me as you are," said Lily. "True, I'd never have sex with you, but you're my best friend, and nothing will ever change that."

That got a wet laugh from Charlotte, but she still didn't feel much better. How could James do that? He had seemed so nice before.

"Oh yeah!" said Lily suddenly. "James doesn't know about your telekinesis! You never told him!" Lily seemed to be very happy about this.

"So? I'm sure Sirius will tell him sooner or later," said Charlotte.

"Not if we tell him not to. And since James doesn't know, don't you think we should have a little fun with it?"

"Like…?" said Charlotte, slightly confused.

"Oh, harmless things. Taking his books during class and putting it under the teacher's desk, having forks hit the back of his head at dinner… you know, stuff like that," said Lily, a maniac gleam in her eyes.

Charlotte started to grin, but her smile suddenly faded.

"Ya know, Sirius will be able to tell what we're doing," she said.

"So? He'll think it's funny, and after we tell James, he'll have us do it to some slimy git like Snape or Malfoy," said Lily, still grinning wickedly.

"Well, I wouldn't mind a little harmless revenge," said Charlotte, grinning again.

****

*

"Um, James?" said Peter slowly at breakfast the next day. "Why is there a fork behind your head?"

"Wha-?" started James, but a fork hitting him in the back of the head cut him off.

"Do you have a magnetic plate in your head or something?" said Peter, trying not to laugh.

"Ha, ha. What did you guys do, enchant that fork to hit me when someone asked about it?" growled James.

Nobody seemed to notice that Charlotte was concentrating hard on something behind James.

"Uh, James? Turn around," said Remus, looking confused.

When James turned around, there was a goblet floating behind him. It flew up and banged him on the top of the head. Everyone was laughing except for James.

"What did you guys do?" he said firmly. "Really, stop, or I'll hex the lot of you."

"Stop doing what?" said Sirius mock-sweetly.

"Okay, if you don't tell me, I'll post that picture I took of you guys wearing deely-boppers in all of the common rooms!" said James sinisterly.

"What are deely-boppers?" said Charlotte, taking a rest before she sent up a plate at James.

"They're those little antenna things with tiny balls on them that you wear on your head. Sirius, Peter, and Remus had some of those on at New Years Eve. They were a beautiful pink color," said James with a wicked smile.

"You wouldn't dare," said Peter, looking genuinely terrified.

"J-James, y-y-you know we wouldn't do that to you," said Sirius, starting to sound like Peter with his stutter.

"Yeah, nobody's that poxy!" said Remus nervously. It took a lot to make Remus nervous, so there must have been something else going on in that picture he didn't want to be seen.

For the sake of the other guys, Charlotte waited for Peter, Remus, and Sirius to leave before lobbing a plate at James's head.

****

*

"Charlotte," said Sirius when they were alone in the common room that night. "You are such a… a…"

"Poxy?" said Charlotte, grinning at Sirius, who looked beside himself with joy.

"No, you're a wonderful, magnificent, beautiful-"

"I know, I know," said Charlotte, and she leaned over and kissed Sirius.

"Intelligent, resourceful…" said Sirius afterwards, grinning still.

"I get the idea. Now, what am I going to do tomorrow?"

"Actually, I have to talk to you. When can we tell the guys about your…. What is it again?"

"Telekenisis. Anyway, you can tell Peter and Remus, but I want to have a bit more fun with James first," smiled Charlotte.

A/N: There are a couple of British terms (poxy, deely-boppers) that I got from a book with a glossary in the back explaining all of the British terms (by the way, poxy means horrible). Okay, I realize there really was no point of this chapter, nor any sort of plot. I just kind of pieced it together. Next chapter, I'll have the Yule Ball, and a bit of Severus being… well… like he is when he's an adult. But he'll be worse (I know, it's rather impossible, but when he's a teacher, he can't hex people **Wolf speaker grins evilly**), and he'll actually have _friends_ (I know, weird, huh?). Okay, I'm going to stop telling you people, otherwise you're just going to skip the next chapter (then flame me for having plot holes), and I couldn't take that. I'm sensitive here! Don't **sob** do this to me! See, now I'm depressed! That's it! I'm doing a runner, and none of you can stop me!


	6. Yule Ball

A/N: I have made a terrible mistake, and it's too far along to fix. Molly Weasley had already left school once the Whomping Willow had been planted. She was gone even before Hagrid was gamekeeper (it explains in GoF)! Therefore, I ask you loving people to ignore my horrendous mistake, and I hope you continue to read the fan fiction of a warped Harry Potter fan. Anyway, this chapter will be about the Yule Ball, and my incredible plot will probably take place in the next chapter. Oh yeah, I have a little song I wanna "sing". _Happy birthday 2 me, happy birthday 2 me, happy birthday beautiful, elegant, wonderful, intelligent me, happy birthday to me_! February 16, thank you very much!

****

Girls  
by Wolf Speaker

Chapter 6:  
Yule Ball

"Hey, Remus!" called Molly.

"Oh, h-hi Molly," said Remus, turning red by the minute.

"I just thought you'd like to go to Hogsmade together. I know a secret passage that leads to the cellar of Honeydukes," Molly said mischievously.

"Wow. Sure, let's go!" said Remus, awed. "I thought we knew every passage out of the school," he muttered.

"Yeah, well it looks like you've finally met your match," smiled Molly. "C'mon."

Remus made a mental note to tell the guys about this one. He could now safely confirm they knew every way out of the school, and he had an idea he got from a spell book in the restricted section of the library.

"Where is this passage, anyway?" said Remus, jogging to keep up with Molly's large strides.

"It's in a 3rd floor corridor. Here it is!" said Molly quickly.

They were in front of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch.

"What do you do?" said Remus, awed.

"You tap the hump and say 'dissendium'. You ready?" grinned Molly.

"Ready when you are, captain!" said Remus.

Molly lead Remus upstairs, near the Charms classroom. When they got to the statue, Molly grinned at Remus, and took out her wand. She tapped the hump and whispered "dissendium". Suddenly, the hump opened wide enough for a fairly skinny person. Remus, for the first time in his life, was glad it had been the full moon a few days ago.

"Let's go," said Molly mischievously.

They slid down the tunnel, and once they hit the floor, they started walking on the cold floor. Remus was wishing he had brought his cloak, seeing as it was December 20th. Remus realized with a jolt that the Yule ball was a few days away. His incredibly nervous thoughts of tripping over his own feet were interrupted by him hitting his head on the trapdoor.

"Hey!" said Remus. "I thought you were leading!"

Molly smiled, and said "What? I figured you'd stop when I did, but you just kept going."

"Yeah, well, that door _is_ solid, you know," muttered Remus.

"Oh, I know. Believe me, I've hit my head on that one a few times," said Molly. She took Remus' hand and said, "C'mon. Let's get in."

They opened the door, and stepped quietly into the cellar of Honeydukes. Remus was amazed at how much Molly knew about the school. He heard someone coming down the stairs, and they slipped behind a few boxes of Acid Pops. The Honeydukes attendant bent over, and they sneaked up the stairs into the shop.

"C'mon! I know a little shop down the road from here," said Molly. "They just opened it up."

Remus had always wondered what they were going to put on that empty lot. Unfortunately, the last Hogsmade trip was the day after the full moon. _Man_, he thought to himself, _I really miss out on a lot due to the full moon_

."Here we are!" smiled Molly, waving a hand at the store between the post office and the Three Broomsticks. It was called Zonko's.

"Zonko's? What kind of name is that?" smiled Remus, looking at the "Grand Opening" sign.

"You shouldn't judge a joke shop by its title," said Molly, straight-faced.

"Right. I'll remember that. Man, Sirius must've loved this place. I wonder why he didn't tell me about it?" he mused out loud.

"Oh, I kept him away from it, so I could tell you about it," said Molly, no trace of embarrassment in her face.

"Wow. That must've been really hard to do. Knowing Sirius, he probably tried to hex you to get past," Remus smiled.

"Pretty close," laughed Molly as they walked in.

"Welcome! You are the first customers today! You get to pick one thing for free!" smiled the attendant. "I'm Cray Zonko. Cray Z., for short."

(A/N: I know, I know, that works too well, but I had to put that in. I know a guy that's named Cray, so I had to do it)

"Hey, Cray Z. I was here the other day, so Remus here can just get something," said Molly.

"Alright then, Remus. What do you want?" smiled Cray Z.

Remus stared in wonder at all of the stuff here. From Dungballs to Nose-Biting Teacups, the store was full to fulfill even Sirius' wildest dreams. He noticed a trunk in the back that wasn't labeled, but couldn't have just been there for decoration, as it didn't do mush for it.

"What's in that trunk?" asked Remus, not really being one for jokes himself.

"Oh, well that's not a joke item, but you really don't seem the joke type anyway," chuckled Cray Z.

"I'm just too transparent," muttered Remus.

"Here, come look."

In the trunk were the most beautiful crystal roses Remus had ever seen. There was gold on the edges of each of the petals and leafs, and it seemed charmed so it would slowly change colors.

"They're beautiful," whispered Remus. "Hey, do you think you could wrap up one of these for my lady friend back there? I haven't gotten her a Christmas present yet, and one of these would be perfect."

That was a slight lie. Remus had already gotten Molly a silver necklace with a crystal charm, but this would go nicely.

"Sure," whispered Cray. After he was done discretely taking out a rose and wrapping it out of Molly's view, he said "That'll be 5 Galleons."

"Thanks," said Remus after paying. Cray Z. winked as they left.

"What did you get?" asked Molly.  
  
"None of your business," said Remus, grinning.

"I hate secrets," mumbled Molly. "They're always either some rubbish like 'Arthur Weasley likes Molly' or 'Molly's Arthur's girlfriend'. Honestly, the day I'm his girlfriend is the day I eat my wand."

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

The night of the Yule Ball, our heroes (and heroines) were a little nervous… 

"I'm nervous," said Remus. "What if Molly ends up wanting to dance with 'Arthur' all night?" he added, putting scorn into the name.

"Come on, Moony. Do you actually think Molly would do that?" said Peter. "What about me? We all know that Rita really likes Sirius. Why is she even going with me?"

"Because, she likes _you_!" said Sirius. "Besides, I wouldn't go with her if my family was going to be dropped into boiling lava. No offense, Peter."

The guys all laughed, even Peter, but James didn't look very happy.

"What's up, Prongs? You haven't been this quiet since… you were in the womb," joked Remus.

"I'm just thinking about-"

"Lily," chorused everyone. James gave them a weak smile.

"What's wrong? You guys made up, didn't you?" asked Peter, still incredibly pale.

"Yeah, but she kind of seems distant. You guys don't think-"

"No, James, there's nobody else," said Remus. "You're just too transparent, Prongs."

"I know," said Peter. "I'll bet you and Lily get married and have the weirdest kid in the wizarding world, and-"

Peter was cut off by an airborne pillow from James' bed, and a large pillow fight ensued, none of the boys realizing the ball was in 15 minutes.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

"Lily, do I really look okay?" asked Charlotte for the hundredth time.

"You look fine!" said Lily. "It's not fair that blue looks so good on you. My hair doesn't exactly go with anything."

"Lily, you look great!" said Charlotte. Lily was wearing robes of silver, with her hair pulled back into an elegant braid with small diamonds in it. Charlotte was wearing skin-tight robes of light blue. She had a necklace and earrings that were the same color, and her hair was falling in soft curls over her shoulders.

"C'mon. If we don't hurry, the guys will think we've gone completely female," joked Lily, checking her reflection in the full-length mirror one last time.

When the girls got down to the common room, the guys hadn't showed up yet. It was 10 minutes to the ball.

"Well, this is interesting," smiled Charlotte. "Aren't _girls_ supposed to be the ones spending an hour getting ready?"

As she finished, the guys came running down the stairs, looking to be in a hurry.

"Sirius?" asked Charlotte cautiously. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want people to think my date is an overly tall bird."

The other guys all burst out laughing, and Sirius looked angry.

"You guys! You said I got them all!" he yelled.

Charlotte took her chance and came over to take out all the feathers from Sirius' hair. When she was done, Sirius leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Let's go," said Lily. She linked arms with James and smiled at him. _Maybe they _are_ made for each other_, thought Charlotte.

Sirius followed her stare, and smiled when he saw James and Lily. _Peter was right_, he thought. _They're going to have one messed up kid_. 

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~ 

"C'mon, let's dance!" said Sirius later that night.

"I'm not much of a dancer," mumbled Charlotte. She didn't know if Sirius didn't hear her or just ignored her, because he came over and pulled her onto the dance floor.

"Sirius-" she started, but Sirius had already started dancing.

"You have major psychological problems," Charlotte muttered. Sirius just laughed, proud of his "psychological problems".

~* Across the dance floor *~

"Damn. 5 Sickles to you, James," said Lily as they were dancing, watching Sirius and Charlotte. 

"I told you. Sirius can charm his way into anything, and getting a girl to dance is one of them," James smiled and kissed Lily on the cheek.

As a slow song came on, Lily laid her head on James' shoulder and they swayed to the music.

"I'm glad we're not mad at each other anymore," whispered Lily, closing her eyes.

"Me too," said James. He put his chin on Lily's head, and got a glimpse of Rita Skeeter and Peter dancing. Doris kept wincing. James guessed Peter was stepping on her feet, and gave a little chuckle.

"What's so funny?" asked Lily, lifting her head and opening her eyes.

"Look at Peter," James said, nodding in his direction.

Lily smiled. Peter really didn't look like he was having much fun. Rita looked on the verge of tears of pain. Peter said something, and they went to sit down, Rita limping (A/N: She deserves it, that witch with a b)

~* Somewhere else on the dance floor *~

"You do realize your friends are watching us," said Molly as she danced close to Remus.

"Yeah, but they watch me a lot, so I'm used to it," smiled Remus.

"You do realize the ball is almost over already," said Molly.

"Yeah. Come on. Let's go into the garden," said Remus. "I still need to give you your Christmas present."

They walked out to the garden, and sat down on a bench. Remus reached into his robes, and pulled out a box wrapped in silver and with a golden bow. Molly opened it gently, as if it were going to break if she ripped the wrapping. When she opened it, she saw the beautiful rose, and practically cried.

"Remus," she whispered. "It's gorgeous. Thank you! Here's your present."

She took out slim box from her pocket. It was wrapped in a dark blue paper. Remus unwrapped it slowly, and was amazed with what he saw. There was a long, dark blue cord with a single, full moon pendant on it.

"It's for your transformations. It makes them less painful," whispered Molly.

"How did you-?" started Remus.

"I'm not completely dim, Remus," smiled Molly. "I know simply by the obvious. Your friends aren't the only clever ones to figure out your secret."

"Thank you," whispered Remus finally. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"Merry Christmas, Remus J. Lupin."

"Merry Christmas, Molly."

A/N: Yes, that did take a while, but I really needed a break from using that thing in my skull. I really don't use it much. Anyway, my next chapter will have that little bit that I mentioned a few chapters ago. I'm skipping many months, because I can't put my beautiful plot in the story during the term. You people had better review, though, because I'm going to go crazy if I don't get at least one review saying "Happy Birthday". I'll just have to make you people wait longer for that cliff-hanger on At Last, though, because I've decided if I don't get more reviews for that, I'm discontinuing it. Thank you, and I'll leave you with a cute little quote that I got from the greatest story, Lessons for Life by Caitlin.

"He who writes the perfect fic may write the first flame," -Caitlin


	7. Summer Holidays Part 1

A/N: Okay, so I take way too long to update chapters, but I just _had_ to finish chapter 8 of At Last. Anyway, this skips to _way_ after Christmas. James and Lily… well, you'll just have to read to find out. It'd be so rude of me to give it away here! Okay, I'd just like to say you all are the best! I have a lot of reviews for this story, and I really appreciate it. Here 'tis, chapter 7!

****

Girls  
By Wolf Speaker

Chapter 7:  
Summer Holidays Part 1

"Sirius!" shrieked Charlotte, laughing. It was day before the end of the term, and it was _hot_. Sirius, Peter, James, Remus, Lily, and Charlotte were all swimming in the lake, and Sirius started a splash war.

"You are so going to pay for that!" Charlotte said, grinning through dripping fringe. "You just wait until we do poisons in Potions!"

"Oh, don't worry, I'm good at antidotes," he smiled. "Besides, you couldn't live without me!"

"You know, I didn't want to bring it up, but…" started Charlotte, face straight. "I'm leaving you for Peter!"

Peter fell over into the water, and Sirius pulled Charlotte under water.

"You've never been much of a liar," said Sirius. Charlotte shook her wet hair out of her face, and stuck her tongue out at Sirius.

James and Lily laughed as Peter came up, sputtering.

"You guys," said Peter suddenly, looking pale. "I think we should get out…"

"Why?" said James curiously.

"Because," said Charlotte, looking in the direction Peter was staring, "I don't think the giant squid feels like company at the moment."

Suddenly, the squid splashed the surface with a huge tentacle, making a giant wave throw our friends onto the shore.

"Told you," said Peter while he was shaking out his wet hair.

"It's okay, I was getting sick of swimming anyway," said Lily. "Char, c'mere."

Lily and Charlotte walked over to where their towels were laying in the sun. As they sat down, Charlotte looked at Lily suspiciously.

"What's wrong, Lil?" she said. "You're never this quiet, and you look really upset."

"Well, I need your advice on something," said Lily, looking uncomfortable. "Let's say, hypothetically, I have this friend."

"Okay." Charlotte smiled at Lily, knowing that she hated to be "hypothetical".

"And let's say this friend is in a relationship with one of her closest friends, but he's been a real jerk to her best friend ever," continued Lily.

"Okay," said Charlotte, blushing slightly.

"How should this friend get rid of this jerk boyfriend?" blurted out Lily after a moments silence.

"Well, Lil, you should tell your friend to be truthful to her boyfriend. After all, James- I mean this jerk," said Charlotte, smiling slightly, "well, he's probably really sensitive and really cares."

"Thanks, Char," said Lily, smiling.

"Oy! Charlotte!" Sirius came over to the girls suddenly. "Come look at this!"

James, Peter, and Sirius dove behind a bush, with the girls close behind. They soon saw why the guys looked so excited.

Remus and Molly were sitting on a bench nearby, talking. Slowly, the leaned in towards each other, and kissed. James and Sirius were quiet for a moment, then burst out laughing and ran up to Remus, Peter trailing behind them. Charlotte and Lily exchanged exasperated glances, then also came out to talk to Molly.

"You guys are so immature," smiled Charlotte as she walked up behind Sirius.

"You know you love us for it," Sirius joked back.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, but smiled in spite of herself.

"Sorry about that," said Lily, coming over by Charlotte and avoiding James's gaze. "We haven't had a chance to teach them _manners_."

"Yeah, it looks like that money for obedience school just went down the drain," said Molly, smiling.

It was quiet for a moment while the guys tried to figure out what that meant.

  
"Hey!" said Sirius.  
  
Through all of this, Remus was standing there, blushing slightly, but still grinning.

"Aw, is ickle Remus embarrassed?" joked James.

Everyone laughed and walked up to the castle, James still trying to catch Lily's eye, while she kept ignoring him.

~*~

"James? Can we talk?" said Lily later that night in the common room.

"Sure," said James, looking slightly annoyed. "I have something to talk with you about, anyway."

"Okay, do you want to explain first?" said Lily. She was truly dreading this, because she and James had been friends for a long time.

"Yeah," said James, still looking angry. "Look, I don't think you should hang out with Charlotte. She's not trustworthy."

"How dare you try and tell me who I should hang out with!" yelled Lily, her temper showing. People started to watch a famous James and Lily row.

"I just don't think you should mess with her!" yelled James, getting angrier by the minute.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE HER!" roared Lily. "YOU BARELY EVEN KNOW HER!"

Charlotte could figure they were fighting about her, and went up to her dormitory before she heard just what James thought.

"YOU WILL NEVER LAY OFF! I THOUGHT YOU'D FINALLY STARTED TO ACT _HUMAN_!" Lily yelled, her face coloring.

"AND YOU'RE OBLIVIOUS TO ANYTHING WRONG SHE DOES!" screamed James.

"WHAT THE HELL HAS SHE EVER DONE TO YOU?" yelled Lily. "YOU NEVER EVEN GAVE HER A CHANCE! SHE'S BEEN TRYING TO GET YOU TO LIKE HER FOREVER!"

"I DON'T NEED TO TAKE THIS!" James roared, narrowing his eyes. "WE ARE SO THROUGH!"

"I AM SO HAPPY!" screamed Lily, and she turned around and ran up to her dormitory.

~*~

"Lily, I am so sorry," said Charlotte later that night. "If it weren't for me-"

"I'd have no close friends," said Lily. "I've wanted to break up with James for a long time. You just helped me see him for what he really is."

"You guys were totally meant for each other," Charlotte said quietly. "I hate to think I'm the one that wrecked that."

"Char, I can't believe I have to tell you this again," said Lily, sitting down by her on the bed. "You are much more important to me. You're my best friend. I could never be this close to James. You're lucky you have Sirius."

"Oh my God! Sirius!" said Charlotte, suddenly standing up. "He's going to be right in the middle of this! Lily, what am I going to do?"

"Oh, I am so sorry! I didn't even think of that!" said Lily, her green eyes widening.

"Let's just go down to dinner," said Charlotte. She looked at Lily and added "I don't blame you for anything, Lil. I just hope Sirius can take the pressure from James."

~*~

At dinner that night, our friends were quiet. Remus looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't. Sirius kept looking at James like he couldn't believe it, and had his arm around Charlotte's shoulders. Charlotte wasn't eating; she was barely breathing. She was just sitting there, staring at her plate, or looking up to see James scowling at her, or Lily looking apologetically at her. Peter, as usual, looked completely confused. After about 10 minutes, he couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Okay, why isn't anybody talking?" he said. He had been in the library during the fight, working on his Potions homework.

Everyone looked at James, who was glaring at Charlotte still.

"What?" he asked. "Nobody else can tell him?"

"James, you're the only one that knows why this happened," said Sirius, looking at him half-angry, half hurt.

"Fine. Lily and I broke up," James said to Peter.

"Then why does Charlotte look upset? And how come you keep glaring at her?" said Peter, obviously still confused.

There was a short pause.

"I just-" started James, but Professor Dumbledore stood up and cut him off.

"Well, students, another year has come and gone. I hope you leave here a little smarter than when you came, otherwise it's rather pointless that you be here," said Dumbledore, smiling. There were scattered cheers across the room. "Well, enough of this talk, let's eat!"

There were more cheers, and people started to eat. Peter, always hungry, forgot about Charlotte and James, and dug into his food.

~*~

The next morning, Lily and Charlotte were up early. They had to finish packing, and send an owl to Lily's mother reminding her that Lily was staying over the holidays with Charlotte (Mrs. Evans was rather forgetful) so she wouldn't come to Kings Cross.

"All ready?" asked Charlotte.

"As ready as I'll ever be," grinned Lily. "Tell me more about this brother of yours."

"Lily, you can't fancy Danny already! You haven't even seen him!" said Charlotte, smiling slightly.

"You almost sounded British right then," said Lily. "I'll fancy him if I feel like it. Besides, you showed me a picture. He's _cute_."

"I can't believe it," muttered Charlotte. "If you marry him, I'll kill you."

"No, you love me too much," said Lily, grinning again.

Charlotte gave a loud, fake sigh. "You do remember he has quidditch over the summer? He won't be there anyway."

"Oh, I'll charm him into coming to visit," said Lily, her eyes twinkling.

Charlotte shook her head, and walked to the dormitory door, Lily close behind her.

~*~

On the train that day, Charlotte and Lily had their own compartment. Sirius would stop by every so often, Remus close behind, but never stayed long.

"Of course he won't stay long," said Charlotte when the matter was brought up. "If he lost his friendship with James, he'd die. I'm not screwing that up for him like I did for you."

The girls were having an unusually good time. Charlotte gave a bit of a show using her telekenisis, making their stuff float, and applying Lily's makeup. It was rather disappointing when the train finally reached King's Cross Station that evening.

"Charlotte!" smiled Mrs. Went when Charlotte and Lily passed through the barrier. "Seems like you made some good friends this year," she added when Sirius came over and kissed Charlotte good-bye. He was planning on coming by later on in the summer.

"Shut up," muttered Charlotte, blushing.

"Ah, this must be Lily!" said Mrs. Went enthusiastically. "I'm so glad to have finally met you! Charlotte has told me so much about you!"

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Went," said Lily, smiling and shaking her hand.

"Oh, you can call me Linda, dear," said Mrs. We- I mean, Linda.

"Okay," said Lily, grinning.

Charlotte checked her watch.

"Mum, if we're going to catch the plane, we have to go now," she said.

"What? Did you call me 'mum'?" said Linda, mock-socked. "That's it, you're not coming back here!"

Charlotte gave another exasperated sigh, and rolled her eyes.

"Mom, you know very well if I didn't go here I'd have _no_ friends. Be happy, or you'll have one very depressed child on your hands."

"And I really don't want that," said Linda, smiling. Lily could see where Charlotte got her sense of humor. She also noticed the mischievous gleam in Linda's eyes that she so dreaded in Charlotte. Charlotte seemed to notice also.

"What are you up to, Mom?" she said suspiciously.

"You'll see when we get home," said Linda, grinning mischievously.

"Like mother like daughter," muttered Lily. "Charlotte, you always do this to me. Now I know where you get it."

"I always do _what_?" said Charlotte.

"Make an outrageous surprise for us and then drop hints about it for a week beforehand," said Lily, smiling.

"Well, you won't have to wait a week, unless our flight is delayed, or we miss our plane," said Linda. She checked her watch and added, "and we _wil_l miss it if we don't leave _now_."

The car ride to the airport was fun. Linda and Lily took turns making fun of Charlotte, and Charlotte told her mom everything about the past year, even Potions. She didn't leave out any of Lily's mishaps. She did remember, though, to leave out Sirius' trick he played on Severus Snape earlier that year though. She didn't think her mother would like it if she were dating a boy who had attempted murder.

Once on the airplane, things were quieter. Lily fell asleep, as the ride would be a while. They would be landing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (A/N: Born and raised there, thank you very much!) in a few hours, so she thought she'd take a nap. She was awakened by Charlotte, who was pointing out the window.

"I thought you'd like to see the lakefront Milwaukee is so famous for," she said, grinning.

Lily looked out the window just as they passed through a cloud. What she saw was amazing.

There were buildings everywhere and one great orange arc over a bridge (Hoan Bridge). Further away from the lakefront, it looked very industrial, but at the lakefront was beautiful. There were the Summerfest grounds, with trees scattered around, and a few ports with boats. There were Ferris wheels, roller coasters, and other rides along a pier, and people milling about.

"Wow," was all Lily could put into words. She hadn't seen anything like this in northern England (A/N: Okay, I've never been to England, but I have been to Milwaukee, so I can't really compare).

"We'll be landing in about ten minuets," said Charlotte, grinning at Lily's reaction.

Lily stared out the window for another minuet or two, until she couldn't see the shore anymore. Then she got together her things from her carry-on bag (A/N: Remember, this was pre-September 11, so it's not against the rules to bring on a bag), and got ready for landing.

~*~

Once off the plane, Charlotte took the lead. She had done this already, and she was proud of it. When she stepped out of the tunnel, though, she lost her professional air. She screamed excitedly, and ran forward. Lily emerged afterward to see Charlotte hugging a tall, good looking guy, around the age of 20. Lily grinned. _So this is the famed Danny_, she thought. _I'm impressed_.

"Oh, Danny, this is Lily," said Charlotte, after Lily cleared her throat very clearly. "Lily, this is my brother, Danny."

"Nice to meet you," said Lily in a smooth voice. She hadn't used that voice since she first met James.

"Hello Lily. It's a pleasure," said Danny, obviously impressed with what he saw. Charlotte noticed this right away.

"C'mon, Danny, we've got to get home!" she called, pulling him by the arm towards the exit.

This is promising to be a very interesting summer, thought Lily with a grin. She and Linda followed Charlotte and Danny out to the car, not aware of the troubles soon to come.

A/N: No, Voldie isn't going to be here (not in this chapter anyway). You're just going to have to read to find out…. I think I wrote this chapter in record time, and you should be very… annoyed, but I hope you're not. I had to take a break from this, because I am getting way more reviews for At Last, and they were starting to get kind of threatening, so I had to finish it. Anyway, this is going somewhere in the next chapter, and I'm very pleased with what has come out of my slaving away in front of a bright computer screen, and enduring premature arthritis, just so you people have something to read whilst surfing the net. Adios amigos, y saca buenas notas (for those of you who don't speak Spanish, that means good-bye friends, and get good grades… I have major problems)


	8. Summer Holidays Part 2

A/N: Okay, it's Spring Break, so I actually have time to write this! Yay! I have a very interesting plot for the next chapter, or maybe two. I hope you people like this, because I am really enjoying doing this. It's dark and gloomy here in Wisconsin right now, all cloudy and rainy, so I'm having fun imagining it's summer and bright and sunny. *Sigh* I miss summer…

Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter characters, though I wish I did. They all belong to the talented Joanne Katherine Rowling, who is the greatest writer, and would win any fan fiction contest any day.

Dedication: Okay, this chapter is dedicated to the real Danny, with blue-green eyes, who I will never forget, no matter how far apart we are.

****

Girls  
By Wolf Speaker

Chapter 8:  
Summer Holidays Part 2

Lily and Charlotte were in Charlotte's room in Milwaukee, Wisconsin planning on what to do. 

"Well, Sirius isn't coming for 3 days, so we're free until then," said Charlotte.

They had been in Wisconsin for a month now, and had worn out almost every opportunity of fun. The mall was getting boring, there was nobody to call without paying more than was wise, and a walk had been overdone, since they took about three the day before. Lily had been spending a lot of time with Danny (and Charlotte, of course), and was really close with him. It almost scared her when she realized how much like James he was.

The computer on Charlotte's desk called "I have an idea."

Charlotte and Lily sat down in front of the charmed computer to see what was blinking on the screen.

"Why not see a movie?" said the computer, showing them a picture of a scene from a new movie, _ET the Extra Terrestrial_ (A/N: remember, this is 20 years ago…)

"I've never seen that flick," said Lily. "It's American, right?"

"Yeah," said Charlotte. "It just came out a little while ago."

"I wouldn't mind seeing that. Who charmed your computer?" asked Lily, realizing the computer was now humming placidly to itself.

"Oh, my mom is Muggle born, but got asked to go to a school of magic, just like you," answered Charlotte. "She can't live without computers, so she got one for each of us, and charmed them to keep an eye on us."

"Oh. Do you think Danny will want to come with us?" asked Lily, in what she hoped was an offhand voice.

"Well, the movie isn't exactly his favorite kind, but he might," said Charlotte, grinning. "You know, if you want, it can be just you and Danny…"

"No," said Lily. "I'd die of embarrassment! You are _never_ going to leave me alone with him."

"Whatever you say," said Charlotte, grinning even more devilishly. She loved the thought of Danny and Lily dating, but she still felt there was some hope for Lily and James. It just seemed certain to her, but she couldn't explain why.

"Well, if we're going, we'll have to leave now," said Charlotte, checking her watch.

"Yeah, let's go. Did you get your driver's license yet?" asked Lily.

"Yup! I got it right before school started! Let's go ask my mom," said Charlotte, grinning.

"CHARLOTTE! Can you come downstairs, dear?" called Linda suddenly.

"What?" asked Charlotte after thundering down the stairs.

"Your father sent you a birthday present," said Linda, grinning.

"Just like dad," muttered Charlotte. "My birthday isn't for another 2 months."

"It's right outside, in the driveway. Why don't you go see what it is before judging him," said Linda, her eyes twinkling much like they did before when she picked up the girls at Kings Cross.

Charlotte's eyes widened, and she ran to the window looking out to the street. She screamed and ran out the door before Lily could even get to the window. When she looked outside, she saw a red car with a giant bow on top, and Charlotte crying next to it, about to go inside. It was a 1982 Trans-Am, brand new. Lily grinned as she saw Charlotte running her fingers along the exterior, grinning through her tears. Lily came outside, and leaned against the car.

"Are you ever going to get in, or are you just going to stare at it?" she asked.

Charlotte stuck her tongue out at Lily, but opened the car and got in.

"I'm never going to talk bad about my dad ever again," she whispered, as she ran her hands over the steering wheel.

"Did your parents get a divorce?" asked Lily gingerly.

"Yup," said Charlotte. "My dad didn't beat my mom or anything. They're still good friends. It's just that when they were married, they couldn't stand each other. They fought over the stupidest things. I remember once my mom cooked lasagna, and my dad hates it. They fought all night."

"Wow," said Lily, not sure if she should laugh or not. Then she saw that Charlotte was grinning.  
  
"My dad moved to Chicago, and he visits whenever he can, but he doesn't have the greatest memory. Last year, for my birthday, he put 'Merry Christmas' on the card. My family's _so_ pathetic."

"Well, it's the thought that counts," said Lily, smiling.

"But, this makes up for everything," said Charlotte, turning her attention back to the car. "Next time I see my dad, I'm going to go crazy with joy."

"Well, since you have a car now, we can go to the movies, can't we?" asked Lily, grinning still.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that!" said Charlotte, eyes widening. "Go ask Danny if he wants to come. I have to take this bow off before we go."

Lily paled, so her red hair stood out quite a bit on her head.

"O-okay," she stuttered, and went back inside, to find herself face-to-face with Danny in the doorway.

"Um, hi," said Lily, unable to look over the fact that they were close enough to kiss. "I was just coming to get you. Charlotte and I wanted to know if you wanted to, um, go see a movie with us. We're seeing _ET_"

Danny was silent for a moment as he looked into those startling green eyes. Then he smiled.

"I'd love to go with you," he said, and Lily saw a slight gleam in his blue-green eyes.

After about two minutes, Lily realized Charlotte was waiting in the car. She turned around, and led Danny to the car.

"That is not fair," said Danny to Charlotte as they got in the car. "Dad never gave me a car for _my_ 17th birthday."

"That's because you failed the test," said Charlotte, after they had backed out of the driveway and started on the way. "You didn't get it right until you were 18, and you had already bought your own car."

Lily and Charlotte laughed, and Danny rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I'm 20 now. I'm more mature," he said, trying to defend himself.

"Yeah, _real_ mature," said Charlotte as she saw Danny make a face at the person outside his window.

They arrived at the movie theater about 10 minutes before the movie started. Charlotte went in to save them some seats, leaving Lily and Danny to get the snacks.

"So," said Danny, looking awkward. "You go to Hogwarts."

"Yeah," said Lily, even more awkwardly. "It's a really good school."

"I bet," said Danny. There was an embarrassed pause, and then Lily spoke up again.

"So, how's Quidditch?" she asked. _Why do I always fall for Quidditch players_, she thought to herself.

"Oh, it's great!" he said, glad to have something to talk about. "Hey, would you like to come to practice with me tomorrow night?"

"Sure!" said Lily. She had always loved Quidditch, even though she wasn't so good at it. "What model broom do you have?"

"Cleansweep. The latest model for sale," said Danny, grinning. (A/N: Once again, this is _20 years ago_!)

"Wow! Didn't that only come out last month?" she asked, very intrigued.

"Yup. After practice tomorrow, do you want to try it out?" said Danny, still smiling at her. Lily started to get a giddy feeling in her chest just looking into his blue-green eyes. She smiled at him.

"I'd love to!" she said.

"Great!" said Danny. He picked up their snacks, and they walked back to the theater, talking about America's chances for the World Cup this year, and other, more personal things.

"So, are you, um," said Danny, turning slightly red. "Are you dating anyone?"

Lily caught herself before answering "James."

"No, not anymore," she said, her eyes glittering as she smiled sweetly at Danny.

"That's good- I mean," said Danny, really turning red. Lily smiled at him, and shook her head. They had reached their seats in the theater.

"Took you long enough!" whispered Charlotte as Lily and Danny sat down. "The movie's just about to start!"

Lily and Danny had ended up sitting next to each other. At the point of the movie where Lily felt like she was going to cry, she felt someone's hand on hers. She looked at Danny, and he smiled at her. She smiled back at him, and intertwined her fingers with his. They stayed like that for the rest of the movie.

After the movie, Danny and Lily still were holding hands, and it took Charlotte a while to realize what was happening.

"I thought they could've done better in the scene where- wait," she said, seeing Danny and Lily for the first time. "I'm confused!"

"You're always confused," muttered Danny, rolling his eyes and putting his arm around Lily. Lily grinned at Charlotte, and Charlotte laughed.

"You sure get over people fast, Lily," she muttered, so Danny wouldn't hear. Lily just smiled.

*

Lily went with Danny to Quidditch practice the next night, as planned. The American team was superb; their chances of the Quidditch cup were looking good. Even a die-hard England fan Lily was surprised.

"You ready for speed?" joked Danny as he landed that night. His blue-green eyes glittered with mirth, and giving Lily the giddy feeling in her chest only Danny could create.

"I'm ready for anything," said Lily, smiling.

Danny swept a laughing Lily in his arms, and swung her around.

"Weren't ready for that, were you?" said Danny, eyes alight.

"I'm ready for anything," repeated Lily, slyly looking into Danny's eyes.

Danny seemed to think this wasn't true. He was still for a moment, then suddenly lifted her up and carried her to the stands, leaving behind the Cleansweep. He set her down on a seat, and grinned at her.

"If you were ready for that, I have only one resort left," laughed Danny.

"You were _so_ obviously going to do that," said Lily, doing her best American accent.

Danny, without even thinking, swooped down and kissed Lily. The problem was, Lily really _wasn't_ expecting that. She fell backwards, off of her seat. Danny laughed and pulled her up.

"You were _so_ obviously going to do that," he said, laughing.

"You'd better go get your broom before someone comes and takes it," muttered Lily, blushing. She had never been so embarrassed!

"Come on," said Danny. "We've got to get home, anyway."

Danny and Lily walked to the parking lot hand in hand. Lily was still slightly red, but she was getting over it. Charlotte would never let her live this one down! _Oh well_, she thought. _I can always come back with that Shrieking Shack incident_…

Lily couldn't believe her and Charlotte had been friends for only a year. It seemed like they had known each other their whole lives, and had gotten in enough trouble together to last it. Lily was lucky none of them were bad enough to owl home. Last year she had put a special potion in Professor Elgort's, the potions master, goblet at dinner. He suddenly turned into a great, filthy rat, and she had gotten detention for 2 weeks, plus an owl home. Mum wasn't too happy…

"So," said Danny, jerking her out of her memories. "My sister's little boyfriend is coming tomorrow, huh? Am I going to like this guy?"

Lily considered this for a moment. She doubted Danny would like any guy that dated Charlotte, but Sirius seemed like the kind of guy that Danny would hang out with.

"Well," she started, choosing her words carefully. "He _is_ a lot like you, but I'm sure that doesn't matter. After all, he's still dating your baby sister, and you're never going to like any of Charlotte's boyfriends."

Danny grinned as they turned the corner to the house.

"I suppose you're right," he said. "I mean, it's just weird to me to think that Charlotte's got a boyfriend. I mean, I'd had a girlfriend or two when I was her age, but it's still kind of weird, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Lily, thinking. Although they didn't get along well, Lily still felt weird when Petunia started dating that Vernon Dursley fellow.

They pulled into the driveway, and went inside to find Charlotte reading by the fireplace in the living room. She jumped up and grinned at them when they walked in.

"How was practice?" she asked, hugging Danny like she hadn't seen him for ages.

"Fine," said Danny. He looked a bit tired, after being hit by the bludger a few times at practice. "I'm going to go up to bed. 'Night."

He kissed Lily on the cheek and headed upstairs.

"How was practice for you?" teased Charlotte, brown eyes sparkling.

"Um…" mumbled Lily, going red at the though of the kiss. "It was interesting…"

She mumbled the story to Charlotte, the whole time looking at the floor, and blushing. Charlotte was laughing hysterically by the time she ended.

"Shut up," said Lily, smiling in spite of herself. "Unless you want me to tell your brother how you and Sirius hooked up-"

That shut up Charlotte, and fast.

"Okay, okay," she said, calming down, but still smiling. "Truce?" She held out her hand.

"Truce," said Lily, shaking her hand jubilantly.

*

The next day, Charlotte was a nervous wreck. She brushed her hair at least 20 times in less than 2 hours, checked her make up in the mirror every 5 minutes, and changed clothes just as often. Lily was quite enjoying watching.

"Charlotte, if you don't stop fussing, you'll be wearing 3 different outfits at once by the time he gets here," teased Lily.

"Shut up," snapped Charlotte, but her face showed nothing but worry. "What if he found someone back in England? What if he totally changed? What if-"

"One thing, Sirius lives out in the middle of nowhere. He has to drive just to go next door. Another thing, Sirius hasn't changed since we were 11. I really don't expect him to now. Stop 'what if-ing' and get over it!" said Lily, still smiling. "Come on, let's go outside and wait."

So Charlotte, with assurance that she looked fine, Lily, and Danny went down to the front yard, talking under a tree. Sirius was due any moment. Danny got out the WWN, and started to play some music.

"May I have this dance?" said Danny, in a fake English accent.

"You may, sir," said Lily, curtsying as Danny bowed.

Danny pulled her into his arms and spun her around, dancing at a fast pace. He had just put her into a dip, when a voice came from behind them.

"Lily!"

Lily fell onto the hard concrete, ignoring the pains of the scrapes. Her stomach gave an unpleasant jolt, and her heart gave a mad twist.

Sirius Black was standing in the driveway, and next to him was James Potter, holding a bouquet of roses and an "I'm Sorry" card.

A/N: Ooooo, a cliffhanger! Ha! Now you have to come back when the next chapter's done! Anyway, I have the rest of the story planned out completely (well, not word for word, but you know what I mean), and it'll reach… a lot of chapters. You all know that Lily and James get back together, I mean, duh. I am not authorized to change what the books say, nor do I plan to. Oh, and about that dedication, I based this Danny off of the guy I have a crush on, so… yeah, that's why it's dedicated to him (Tara, do _not_ scowl at the computer, did you honestly ever think I'd get over him?). I know he's never going to read this, because he's never picked up a Harry Potter book in his life (I know, I know, then why am I attracted to him?), but it makes me feel better that I get that out (I dunno why, it just does). Okay, now that you don't have to listen to me complain about my life, could you review by clicking on that little box below? I really feel depressed after writing that, and a good review would be great! Thanks!


	9. Summer Holidays Part 3 (yes yes, I know ...

A/N: I'm finally done! This chapter took me a while, and I did get a flame or two because of it, but I'm proud to say this came out well. I don't like how Lily gets rid of Danny, but the living Danny I based this off of deserves it, so I figured this one does too. Anyway, I have the whole plot planned out, and there'll be a lot more action soon. This story has been incredibly romance-ie, and I don't have a problem with that, it just gets old sometimes. I have an interesting occurrence in this chapter, and I had fun writing it. I hope you like it!

Dedication: This is dedicated to someone you are not likely to know. This is dedicated to my brother, in the hopes that he'll get some ideas from the ending….

****

Girls  
by Wolf Speaker

Chapter 9:  
Summer Holidays Part 3

"Lily!"

Lily fell onto the hard concrete, ignoring the pains of the scrapes. Her stomach gave an unpleasant jolt, and her heart gave a mad twist.

Sirius Black was standing in the driveway, and next to him was James Potter, holding a bouquet of roses and an "I'm Sorry" card.

James turned around, dropping the roses and the card, and started to walk away.

"James, James wait!" called Lily, getting up. She was bleeding slightly, but she didn't care.

"James, please!" she said. She grabbed his arm and turned him around to look at her. His eyes were cold with anger and pain.

"Lily, I-" started James, but Lily put a finger to his lips.

"I love you with all my heart, James," she said. "But what you said about Charlotte hurt both her and me. What made you think she was so evil?"

"Well," said James quietly. "I had been talking to Lucius Malfoy-"

"Okay, so that was dumb in itself, but you LISTENED to him?" said Lily, appalled. "James, that kid has no life. He is scum like his father, and his son will be scum. You can't believe a Malfoy ever. What did he tell you?"

"He mentioned something about Charlotte being a Death Eater," said James, looking down at his sneakers. "And since his father is one, I figured he would know."

"James," said Lily, "that was dumb. Charlotte hasn't told anyone about Remus, or you, Sirius, and Peter. How COULD she be a Death Eater? Why would she be?"

"Lily, I'm really sorry," said James, still avoiding those green eyes. "I just jumped to conclusions. But who was that guy?"

"Oh," said Lily, reddening a bit. "That's Charlotte's brother Danny."

"Ah," said James, looking hurt again. "I guess I'll just be heading home, then. Don't want to give your new boyfriend any bad ideas."

"James," whispered Lily. "I love you. I'd pick you over Danny any day."

James looked into her eyes for a moment, then pulled Lily into a kiss. Lily lost herself in joy.

"I've really missed you, you know," she said once they had parted.

"Yeah, I know," said James, smiling. "I missed you, too."

They heard sniggering behind the tree nearest them, and James rolled his eyes.

"Sirius, you prat, get out of that tree or I'll hex you!" he said, smiling all the same.

Sirius emerged from behind the tree, laughing hysterically, with Charlotte close by. Danny stayed back for a moment, then came out as well.

"Danny, I'm really sorry," said Lily. "Can we still be friends?"

Danny was silent for a moment, but then broke into a smile.

"Of course!" he said, laughing. "Hey, as long as he doesn't beat me up for you."

Everyone laughed. James, though relatively tall and muscular, looked like a twig next to Danny. They all walked back to Charlotte's house, laughing and talking. James and Lily were walking hand-in-hand, and Sirius had his arm around Charlotte's shoulders. Danny was still watching them suspiciously. Lily caught his attention and rolled her eyes. Danny smiled and kept walking.

*

When everyone got back inside, Linda bombarded them.

"Oh hello there!" she said jovially. "You must be Sirius!"

She extended her right hand, making Sirius take his arm from around Charlotte's shoulders to shake Linda's hand. Everyone laughed as Charlotte groaned.

"I'm very pleased to meet you Mrs. Went," said Sirius politely through a grin.

"Oh the pleasure is all mine," said Linda, grinning evilly. "Call me Linda, by the way, everyone else does. And who is this?"

She turned to smile at James, who smiled and ran behind Lily, saying, "Hide me!"

Lily rolled her eyes.

"This is James," she said. "He's a freak and a loser, you don't want to know him."

Everyone laughed again as James yelled "Hey!"

The group was in a good mood as they sat down in the living room, laughing and telling stories.

"Remember the time Snape tried to turn Sirius into a dog?" said Charlotte, smiling as she snuggled up to Sirius.

"How could we forget?" smiled James. Clearly, he'd gotten over his grudge. "The entire thing back-fired and Snape had to go up to the hospital wing as a dog!"

Everyone grinned at the memory of the tiny black poodle that was Snape.

"Good times, good times," grinned Sirius.

"Oh don't forget the time Malfoy turned himself into a ferret!" said Lily.

"What happened then?" asked Charlotte. "That didn't happen this year."

"Well, he had gotten angry at some Ravenclaw third year and pulled out his wand, but he was holding it by the wrong end, so when he tried to curse the kid, he cursed himself," said James. "The Slytherins and Gryffindors were on their way to Potions, so we all saw it."

Charlotte grinned as everyone laughed again.

"Man I wish I could have seen that," she said wistfully. She smiled as everyone laughed again.

"What about when we took Snape's stuff and turned it all pink?" said Lily.

"Yeah then we made it look like Lucius Malfoy had done it!" smiled Charlotte.

"My friends and I did that to someone when we were in school," said Linda thoughtfully. "Except we didn't turn it pink. I, um, _accidentally _turned it purple instead, because this was before I went to a wizarding school. I had a crush on this guy, though. That was just how I handled it; I acted like I hated his guts. I'm sure you don't have a crush on this guy Snape, judging by your letters."

"I sure hope not!" said Sirius, grinning at Charlotte. She rolled her eyes.

"Come on," she said as everyone laughed. "That's like saying you hope I don't have a crush on a can of oil."

"I thought that's what Snape _was_," said Lily seriously.

*

"What time are Remus and Peter coming?" asked Sirius. 

It was over a month later; meaning summer was nearly over. Remus and Peter were going to come for the remaining few weeks and then board the Hogwarts Express with them. Their letters from school had arrived a few days earlier, so they were going to go to Teliastor Alley to get their supplies for school as soon as Remus and Peter were settled into their rooms.

"They should be here any minute," said Charlotte, grinning and coming over to Sirius, giving him a soft kiss.

"It's so sad that it's our last year at Hogwarts," she said as she laid her head on Sirius's chest, her arms around his waist and his around her neck.

"Hey, that just means that we will get to see each other all the time," Sirius whispered. "After all, your seventeenth birthday is next week."

Charlotte smiled.

"I've never even told you when my birthday _is_, how would you know that?"

"Oh, I have my sources," said Sirius slyly.

"You mean you asked my mom," Charlotte said bluntly.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Sirius. Suddenly, he looked at the clock.

"That reminds me, I have to do something before Remus and Peter get here," he said, giving Charlotte a peck on the cheek as he dashed out of the room.

"What is he up to?" Charlotte wondered to herself as she heard Sirius running down the stairs.

*

"-What do you think? In the magical community, the legal age is younger, as you should know, but I still wanted your permission first."

Sirius and Linda were talking in Linda's office. Linda was smiling at Sirius. She looked rather proud, and very pleased.

"That was very polite of you to ask me first. You're a regular gentleman. Of course you may," said Linda gladly.

Sirius let out a great sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much," he said. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Sirius, you're like the second son I never had," said Linda. "I'm surprised you thought I'd say no."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"That'd be Remus and Peter, I suppose," said Linda. "Good luck." She winked.

Sirius said thank you and walked out to meet his friends, grinning broadly about something.

*

"Remus! Peter!" said Charlotte happily as she opened the door. "Good to see you!"

She hugged each of them, then moved out of the way as she heard James and Lily thundering down the steps. Lily ran for Remus and hugged him, as James bombarded Peter, laughing and tussling a bit. Lily and Charlotte looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Remus laughed. Sirius walked in a bit late and said hello to everyone. He was grinning but wouldn't keep eye contact with Charlotte long enough for her to figure it out.

Linda came in and smiled at the scene. James had Peter in a headlock, saying "Say uncle!" Sirius was still grinning stupidly, looking at Charlotte, Charlotte and Lily were talking, and Remus was trying to get James off of Peter.

"Well, Charlotte, you sure do have… um, _interesting_ friends," she said loudly, so everyone stopped. James and Peter were still laughing, but quietly. When Peter saw Linda, he stopped laughing and became shy and quiet as he always did near teachers.

"Oh!" said Charlotte after a meaningful look from her mom. "Mom, this is Remus Lupin, and this is Peter Pettigrew. Guys, this is my mom, Linda."

"Hello Mrs. Went," said Remus politely.

"Call her Linda," chorused everyone except for Peter and Remus, as Linda grinned.

"You all are learning well," she laughed. "Okay, who's going to show Remus and Peter their room?" The house was rather large, and James and Sirius shared a room, and so would Peter and Remus. They still had an extra bedroom left after that.

"We will," said Sirius, pointing to himself and James. 

"Uh, sure," said James, smiling.

Charlotte saw Sirius lean over towards James as everyone was laughing, and through the laughter heard him whisper "I have something to tell you."

Charlotte was becoming even more suspicious, and hoped he'd tell _her_ soon.

*

When they got back from Teliastor Alley later that night, they were all extremely happy, but slightly tired. They had spent the whole day there, but they had done much more than school shopping. The girls had gotten plenty of new robes, both casual and dress. The guys mainly bought jokes, but they did buy a few things they knew they'd need after school was finally over. Also, they all had gotten the papers they would have to fill out to take the Apparation test next summer, so they could take them right away.

Sirius grinned at Charlotte again when they got back. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today.

Sirius fingered a small box in the pocket of his cloak. He couldn't wait to ask Charlotte the one thing on his mind all day. He knew exactly what he'd do, too. He'd been planning it for a couple of weeks now. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he asked her to-

"Hello? Sirius, is anybody there?" said Charlotte, waving her hand in front of his face. "James just asked you if we wanted to go on a walk with him and Lily. Remus and Peter have already gone up to bed."

"Oh," he said, and James looked at him knowingly. He had told him already. "Oh sure. That sounds good."

Charlotte rolled her eyes (A/N: Which is something I just realized she does _way _too much) and went to get her cloak again.

When Charlotte came back, they went out the front door and walked down the street. It was a relatively fancy area, so the yards were big to accommodate for the houses. They walked slowly, hand in hand, happy to be together. It was nice and quiet, making everything rather surreal. The stars twinkled happily down on the tow couples, and the waning moon shone light on the street. They didn't talk much, just walked, in bliss. When they got back, they were all happy and ready to rest after a fun day. Sirius kissed Charlotte gently on the lips and went upstairs. James and Lily did the same and James went after Sirius. Lily and Charlotte grinned at each other.

"They really _can_ be sweet sometimes," said Lily happily. "I love it when they're like that."

"Yeah," said Charlotte, preoccupied. "Lily, do you know what Sirius is up to? Why is he being so secretive? He's almost always out of it."

"Yeah, I noticed too," Lily said thoughtfully. "I don't really know what it's about, though. I'll bet James does, but I can't really get it out of him. Not if it's about Sirius anyway."

"Hm," said Charlotte. She would ponder this, as she lay awake in bed hours later, trying to figure out exactly what Sirius was hiding.

*

Charlotte's birthday dawned warm and bright. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was just right for swimming in the pool in the backyard. Charlotte grinned when she woke up. She smelled pancakes and sausage cooking downstairs, and heard her mother laughing. She looked at the clock. 9:47. A little later than she was used too, but not too late. She put on her lilac robes and went downstairs.

The kitchen looked amazing. There were streamers and balloons everywhere. She smiled at the designs. The balloons all had smiley faces on them, and the streamers were pink and yellow. She had had the same sort of decorations when she turned 13. Still, it looked good. This time, she notices, after a minute or so, the decorations changed to black and red streamers, and the designs on the balloons were still smiley faces, and they were still yellow, the they had fangs and blood was dripping off of one of them. Charlotte grinned.

"Thanks you guys!" she said happily. Sirius came over and kissed her good-morning and she grinned even more.

"Hey, where's _my _good-morning kiss?" asked Lily. James laughed and kissed Lily.

"Good-morning," he said, smiling. Everyone laughed.

Charlotte looked around and realized everyone was down here already. Even Peter. Normally, you couldn't get him up before noon.  
  
"Well, I suppose you'll want to eat breakfast before you open your presents…" said Linda, smiling.

Linda said that every year, and Charlotte always chose opening her presents first. Charlotte grinned.

"Yeah, let's eat breakfast first," she said. Linda smiled at her daughter.

"NOT! Come on, let me at the presents!" said Charlotte. Everyone laughed, and they went into the living room. There was a small pile of presents from everyone there. Charlotte smiled.

From Lily she got earrings that changed color to match what you are wearing. James gave Charlotte a book on Quidditch (Lily rolled her eyes when she saw it. "Like you need it!" she whispered to her later on. "Your brother plays!"). Peter gave her a box of Chocolate Frogs, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Remus got her a beautiful silver necklace with a crescent moon pendant and a small star on the edge of the crescent. Sirius, however, gave her the best present of all. When she opened the small box, she gasped. There was a beautiful diamond engagement ring.

"Will you marry me?" asked Sirius quietly.

A/N: Don't you just love romantic cliffhangers like that? I live for those. Anyway, I really like this chapter, but I had better get some reviews for this because I have to do some stuff and I don't know if I can make time to write the next chapter with out some encouragement. I hope I get at least 5…. *Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more* I want to say something about the dedication; my brother has a 4 year old daughter, and a girlfriend (yes, she is the mother). I'm kind of hoping that he officially asks her to marry him soon. I know you people want me to get on with it so I type up the next chapter A.S.A.P., but remember, I need 5 reviews…. Hope to see your name there!

~ Wolf Speaker


	10. Back To Hogwarts

A/N: Yes, yes, I've finally written it. THE CLIMAX OF GIRLS IS UP! Thank you to the reviewers for the last chapter. I'm going to reply to each of you at the end. Anyway, I nearly wept when I finished the last chapter. Sirius is supposed to be MINE! But, it's a part of my slowly unfolding plot, and it HAD to happen. *Sniffle* I'll miss you, Sirius. *Clears throat in business-like manner* Okay well, here's chapter 10! Hope you like it!

****

Girls  
by Wolf Speaker

Chapter 10:  
Back to Hogwarts

"Will you marry me?"

Charlotte was in disbelieving shock. She had dreamed of this day for almost a year, but she didn't expect it so soon! She truly loved Sirius, and would do anything for him. It was just such a shock she couldn't string two words together. 

Sirius was growing paler by the second during Charlotte's silence. A horrible thought occurred to him, as horrible thoughts do when you're nervous. What if she didn't truly love him? What if she was just using him? What if-

"Yes!" Charlotte said all of a sudden.

Sirius felt relief sweeping over him, followed closely by undiluted joy.

"Really? You mean it?" he said, grinning.

"Of course!" said Charlotte, and she leaned over and kissed him.

It took the two a moment to realize everyone was watching. James was grinning, having known all along that Sirius could do it. Lily's eyes were brimming with tears, her hand over her mouth, with one of those "Oh that's soooo sweet!" smiles. Remus was grinning as well, shaking his head at his friend's stupidity. 'Really? You mean it?' Honestly, did Sirius think she would've said yes if she DIDN'T mean it? Peter, on the other hand, was looking at Sirius in disbelief. He was actually going to MARRY her? She was practically a Muggle, the way she acted! I mean, she got excited over getting a CAR when she knew we'd be taking our Apparation tests soon! (A/N: Okay, I'm going to be having Peter's meanie-ish side coming out through the rest of the story, just so you're warned) Peter then reassured himself that this engagement would fall through, and fast.

Linda cleared her throat. Sirius and Charlotte broke off, and everyone turned to Linda.

"I guess you two don't want breakfast then?" she joked.

"Love is all I need; I shall never hunger," said Sirius, mock-dramatically. Then his stomach gave a very loud growl. Everyone laughed and started walking into the kitchen.

"At least that didn't happen when you proposed," said James as Sirius slipped the ring onto Charlotte's finger. Sirius grinned.

"It would have added to the romantic setting!" he protested, still smiling.

"Of course it would have," said Charlotte, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, you shouldn't talk, you're going to be stuck with me the rest of your life!" joked Sirius as they sat down for breakfast.

"Yeah, maybe I should reconsider," said Charlotte. She grinned and kissed Sirius gently on the lips. "Then again," she said, "maybe I shouldn't."  
  
Lily ruined the moment by sniffing loudly.

"I'm sorry," she said, giving them a watery grin. "But this is just soooo sweet!"

Everyone laughed again and started helping themselves to breakfast.

*

"I can't believe this is our last year at Hogwarts," said Charlotte sadly. The group was on the Hogwarts Express on September 1st.

"I know, I don't know what I can do after school," said Lily. "Mum and Dad will want me to stay, of course, but Petunia is going to the local university, which means she's living there too. She wouldn't appreciate it too much if I stayed."

"Yeah, but you could always hex her," said James seriously. "After all, you won't be an underage witch anymore."

Everyone grinned. It was common knowledge what Petunia Evans and her boyfriend Vernon Dursley thought of "their kind".

It was quite a sight the group made. Charlotte and Lily were near tears, and Sirius and James had comforting arms around them. Remus looked sympathetic, but he had sort of a distant look in his eyes, and Peter was trying not to glare at Lily and Charlotte. He had a secret hate growing for both of them. Lily was a Mudblood and nobody liked them, and Charlotte may as well be a Mudblood the way she acted. And what everyone else didn't know was that he had run into the greatest wizard of all time during his summer holiday, before he went to America…

"Peter?" asked Sirius suddenly, jerking him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay? You had the oddest look on your face…."

"Oh, I'm fine," said Peter. "Sorry."

"S'all right," said Sirius calmly. "James was just asking you if you'd like a Chocolate Frog."

"Oh," said Peter, still not fully awake. "Oh, sure."

James and Sirius exchanged a curious glance.

"Peter, are you sure you're all right?" asked James.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said through his bite of chocolate. Everyone laughed. This was the Peter they were used to.

Remus had forced a laugh, but he still looked very distant.

"Hey Moony, what's wrong?" asked Peter.

"Well," said Remus slowly. "See, I got an owl this morning. From Molly."

"Oh no," said Lily quietly. "She didn't- she didn't chuck you did she?"

"As a matter of fact, she did," said Remus. He tried to make it look like he didn't care, but it was obvious to his friends that he was really hurt.

"S'all right mate!" said Sirius happily. "You and her weren't that good together anyway. Molly liked Arthur Weasley since 1st year, she can't deny it."

"I know," said Remus. Suddenly he grinned. "At least there was one thing good about her."

"What would that be?" asked Charlotte. She knew Remus wasn't the kind to say, "I got some from her" or something, but still….

"She gave us that last secret passage so we could make the map," said Remus happily. "I finished it just before I came to Charlotte's place."

"Why didn't you show it to us before?" asked James, jumping up. Sirius beat him to Remus though.

"C'mon, show us!" he said. Sirius's face looked like a little boy's on Christmas morning.

Remus grinned and pulled out an old bit of parchment from his pocket. Lily and Charlotte were confused but all the boys were looking at it happily.

"Um… Sirius?" said Charlotte carefully. "I don't want to disappoint you, but, that's just a bit of parchment."

"Just a bit of parchment?" said Sirius in disbelief. "Charlotte, have you gone mad? This is much more than a bit of parchment! Remus, if you would do the honors?"

"Certainly, Padfoot old friend," said Remus in a business-like fashion. He cleared his throat and tapped the paper with his wand. "Ahem. I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Suddenly, a map of Hogwarts appeared, showing tiny black dots walking around.

"This is amazing!" said Charlotte. "How did you guys get all of this?"

"Oh, just did a little snooping," said Sirius with an evil grin.

Charlotte looked down at the map again and burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked James, looking at the map as well.

"Professor McGonagall! Look at Professor McGonagall!" she laughed.

Everyone looked down at the map and saw the dot that was Minerva McGonagall dancing around her office, twirling around like an idiot. They all laughed.

"This is _definitely_ going to be an interesting year," laughed Lily.

*

"Ack! I can't _believe_ how much homework Professor McGonagall gave us!" complained Charlotte in the common room a couple of weeks later. "You'd think that she expected the world to end and we needed our entire 7th year education to survive!"

"Come on, Char, it's not that bad," said Lily.

"Of course not, you're Head Girl, you love school," grumbled Charlotte.

Lily laughed and blushed a bit. "Just because I'm Head Girl doesn't mean I like school, but McGonagall's given us more homework than this before."

"Then I'm surprised you survived the first 5 years here without me," Charlotte replied. "Hey," she said, looking around. "Where'd Head Boy and Sirius go off too?"

Lily looked around as well. "I don't know, probably to Hogsmeade."

Charlotte sighed. "I told Sirius I wanted to talk to him."

Lily looked at Charlotte over her book. "You know Sirius, he forgets things."  
  
"You mean he forgets he's engaged to someone?" said Charlotte. "He said we'd talk about the wedding tonight."

"Oh," said Lily. She looked slightly embarrassed for bringing it up. "Well, maybe that's why they're in Hogsmeade, after all, they have the best robe shop there other than Madam Malkin's, maybe he's buying you your dress."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Yeah right," she muttered. "If Sirius is buying my dress I'm not going to show up for fear of looking like a freak. He'd probably buy a dress that's like green and purple camouflage."

Lily grinned. "Well, then you couldn't say the ceremony was boring."

Charlotte grinned back. "Yeah, we'd make it go down in history as the wedding with the worst fashion sense."

As Lily laughed, Remus came walking over, followed somewhat reluctantly by Peter.

"What's up guys?" asked Charlotte while Lily controlled her giggles.

"Nothing much," said Remus. "We can't find James and Sirius and we figured you might know where they are. I need to show them something on the map."

"Can't you just look on the map and see if they're here?" asked Lily.

"That's just the thing; they're not anywhere on the school grounds," said Remus. "The map ends just at the edges of the forest but they know the dangers of that place and don't go there just because they're bored."

"I'm getting really sick of Sirius's little secrets," muttered Charlotte.

*

"You know, Charlotte's probably getting really sick of me having secrets," muttered Sirius. "Why am I with you again?"

"Because I'm not sure what to get for Lily!" whined James. "You already did this for Charlotte! I need help!"

"We all know that one, Prongs old pal," said Sirius.

"Shut up," said James. "Come on. I set up an appointment at the jewelers down the road."

"You made an _appointment_?" Sirius said obviously shocked. "I just kind of walked in there and said 'I need a ring can you help me'."

James gave Sirius the "look". It was the look saved especially for Sirius when he was being dim, or when he was toeing the line of annoying shit-head. There was quite a sense of warning in that particular "look" actually.

"Well, I'm really nervous about this I want this to be perfect," said James. He was growing paler by the minute.

"Prongs, if you're this nervous buying the ring, how are you going to ask her?" said Sirius.

"I don't know," James muttered, running his fingers through his already untidy hair. "Just… let's worry about what we're doing now."

Sirius was muttering something about obsessive-compulsive freaks when they reached the jewelers shop. James gave Sirius one last "look" before he walked in.

"Ah, young sirs! You are James Potter, I assume?" said the jeweler.

"Yes, sir," said James politely. "I'm here about an engagement ring…"

A/N: Okay all, there's the 10th chapter, be proud of me. There WAS going to be a bit more but then I realized that that was a good cliff-hanger right about there. So, I'll make you wait some more. *evil grin* Anyway, there's really not much to say, the ending really speaks for itself, I mean, COME ON people, put 2 and 2 together. The next chapter shouldn't take as long as this one did I'm sorry to everyone that had to wait. Please review *puppy dog eyes* and if you're signed in or use your pen name I'll read some of your stories it's the least I could do. Thank you!

~Wolf Speaker


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